


The Music Within Me

by Musical_Skater



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Actress AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Giving them a normal life because they deserve some fucking peace, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I will die with this ship ngl, jlaire, more tags to come, musician au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25659964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_Skater/pseuds/Musical_Skater
Summary: Ever since I was seventeen, I've been head over heels for one of my closest friends. She's always been by my side no matter the circumstances. Through the rejection calls, denial letters, and no shows, she's always had my back. So even though my best friend says not telling her will be the death of me, what's a little longer? *Musician Jim/Actress Claire AU*
Relationships: Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez, Toby Domzalski/Darci Scott, much more later on
Comments: 36
Kudos: 64





	1. What's The Harm?

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! So this is an extension to my The Music Within Me one-shot that's in my The Tiny Moments Matter archive. I was told that this was an "addicting" story idea from a few people and even had someone review that they wanted more of it, so here I am, giving a full story a shot. To be honest, the characters feel a little OOC for me but I think that’s due to the world change as well as age change within the characters so please don’t come at me, alright? I already know they feel different lol.  
> I will proudly proclaim that I'm not using my own music within this chapter or in later chapters either. I might within future chapters since I do enjoy songwriting, but for right now, I'm focusing on the story.  
> Hope you guys enjoy it!  
> Also, thank you once again to my Beta Reader PrimaryIan210. Thank you for dealing with my bullshit as well as my sometimes terrible grammar/spelling. You’re a lifesaver mate!

I felt out of my body as I back away a little from the mic as I slashed on my guitar. The bright stage lights put a fire under my skin as I felt a small bead of sweat build itself on my brow. My fingers danced across the fretboard as I shook my head a little to get my hair out of my eyes. I was lost within the moment. Lost within the thundering of the bass and drums behind me. Lost within the crowd that screamed and shouted out toward me and my stage crew. I stepped back up to the mic, knowing by the sound of the bass licks that we were nearing when the lyrics began again. I took a deep breath as I reached out and clutched the mic with my guitar pick tucked between my index and middle finger.

" _ She! _ " I smiled as I heard the crowd call out after me. " _ She lives in daydreams with me!" _ I laughed a little as the crowd did the same as before. " _ She's the first one that I see and I don't know why I don't know who she is! _ " I let go of the mic as I started to play my guitar once more. " _ She's the first one that I see. She lives in daydreams with me and I don't know why. I don't know where she is. _ " I stepped away from the mic once more, playing out the ending of the song. I felt my grin deepen as I looked out into the crowd, seeing the effects of the music on the audience as well as feeling the pulse of the bass and drums within my heart.

_ This right here, is why I love what I do. _

I felt myself smile like a fool as I played the last few cords of the song, letting the last one ring out a little as the rest of the crew on stage followed suit. I grabbed the mic how I did before, leaving my guitar limp around my waist as my other one toyed with my hair that had now gotten into my eyes once more. "Thank you, everybody!" I raised my hand that I now freed from my hair to the sky. "Get home safe, love well, and I hope you enjoyed the show! Thank you for coming out!" I gave the audience a small bow as I heard the crowd call out to me. I placed my hand on my heart as I knew if I said thank you one more time, I wasn't going to hear the end of it. I smiled to my audience, gave them a wave, and headed my way towards backstage. I placed my guitar behind my back as I saw a familiar figure of my best friend as I came out of the harsh stage lights.

"Amazing job! You rocked the house down!" I smiled at him as I took a water bottle that he had already waiting for me in his hands. I uncapped it quickly, guzzling about half of it before speaking to him.

"Thanks, Tobes."

Toby had been my best friend since we were four years old. He was my rock when it came to a lot of the events within my life and when I was offered a record deal after one of my old YouTube covers I did in high school made it big, he offered to be my right-hand man. He was already studying business at the time, so he knew a lot more about contracts and stuff like that than I did, so I gave him the reins. He became my manager, and I haven't regretted it since. It was great having someone that already knew what you believed and cared about to be your voice in business deals and meetings with the record label. When they wanted to place me into something that he knew I would dislike, he fought against it. When the label wanted something from me he knew I couldn't provide, he was blunt about it. It made the experience in the music world easier. Made my love for music matter more than just album's sales and stadium tours.

_ It also helped that he let me be myself. _

I smiled at the idea as I felt myself already walking towards the small dressing room I was given to prep in before the show. "So, what's the plan now, Tobes?" I didn't have to look to know he pulled out a small tablet from his jacket pocket as he checked the small calendar he had planned out for me.

"Well, today was the last concert of the tour so we don't have to worry about any more gigs. One last two-hour drive on the tour bus and then we're home free. But tomorrow, we have a meeting with the marketing advisor of the record label." I rolled my eyes at him as we continued walking together. I took the cap off the water he gave me once more.

"Just going to tell me the same shit over and over again." I took a swig from the water before faking an overly proper English accent. "Oh, James, you have to understand. Stadium tickets are through the roof. You must come out with another album this time next year. You just must." I smiled as I heard Toby's laugh beside me.

"You do know if Trevor hears you speaking about him like that, there won't  _ be  _ another album, right?" I chuckled at his response.

"I know. But you gotta admit, meeting with him every quarter just to be told what I was already told for the last three years in a row is getting annoying."

"I never said I liked it, man. Just gotta deal with it though. The more we comply, the more freedom you have." I nodded my head, knowing exactly what he meant.

_ The more I do what they say, the more my music is my own. The more I roll with what they want, the more they let me have creative freedom. They would restrict me otherwise. _

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, instinctively, I pulled it out without a second thought. I smiled as I saw the contact name, already pressing accept before Toby could tell me otherwise.

"Hey, Claire."

" _ Hey there, Hotshot! I saw videos of the concert already. You killed it!" _

Claire and I had been friends since we were in high school. The idea that both of us wanted in the Hollywood scene was something that we bonded over. With how she wanted to become an actress as I strived to be a musician, we knew exactly the other's dreams and understood each other better than most. We supported each other when others thought we were crazy. We would lend a shoulder to the other when we got rejection letters or no-show calls. Throughout it all, we were there for each other to the point the media started to claim there must have been something more between the two of us.

_ Even though I wouldn't lie that I desperately wanted there to be. _

I swallowed hard at the thought while the sound of Claire's voice became wonderful background noise as she continued to ramble.

_ Ever since I was seventeen, I knew how I felt about her. I knew that I cared for her more than I could ever explain. Even my mother would joke that she was the one and I couldn't argue with her about it because I knew deep down that it was true. No one compared to Claire. Yes, I tried to get over my feelings for her a few times. But the quick flings always ended with me back where I started. A lost twenty-one-year-old wishing for his friend to somehow feel the same. _

" _ So, what do you think? _ " I shook my head a little, getting myself out of my thoughts as I returned to reality. 

"Um, what was that? I couldn't hear you." I could tell that Claire rolled her eyes at the excuse, but she repeated herself anyway.

" _ I was asked by your label company if I wanted to appear in a music video. I have to give them my response tomorrow. It's something new, but I'm not sure if I'm down for it. I do have the Turbo Raiders film I'm working on already."  _ I smiled as I felt a nudge in my shoulder from Toby who indicated to me that I almost missed my dressing room. I turned and entered the room before responding.

"I think it might be good for you. It's not like you have to memorize many lines in music videos anyway." I heard a hum on the other line as I brought my guitar off of my shoulder before walking up to its open case that was on the floor. "Hey, I'm gonna put you on speaker for a second. I need to put my guitar away."

" _ Yeah, sure no problem. _ " I pressed the speaker button and placed her on the floor beside me.

"Hey, Claire!" Toby said with a cheeky smile as I placed my blue and black Les Paul into its case.

" _ Hey, Toby! How are you? _ "

"Keeping sane, you know how Jim can be now and then on tours." I shook my head at him as I latched the case shut.

" _ Oh yeah, definitely. Remember the time he freaked out before the battle of the bands at school because he thought he forgot his guitar pick even though he had-" _

"Can we not talk about the time I just wanted to not be on stage? That was six years ago." I heard Claire laugh through the speaker as I picked the phone up along with my guitar.

" _ But I love that story. _ " I smirked as I looked over to Toby.

"Hey, Tobes. Did I ever tell you about the time when Claire was on stage during a school play and nearly dropped a clay plate prop because she saw this really cute guy-"

" _ You promised to never speak of that! You broke the pinky swear!"  _ I laughed wholeheartedly as Toby laughed along, opening the door for me so I could walk out of the room.

"To be honest, Darci broke it first." Toby smiled as he spoke. Showing that he knew the story well before I told it.

" _ Tell your girlfriend she betrayed me in the worst of ways. _ "

"A little over dramatic don't you think?" I smirked as I spoke, knowing full well what her response would be.

" _ I'm an actress. I was born to be. _ "

_ There it is. _

I smiled at the thought as we were approaching the back doors of the stadium. "Alright, I gotta let you go. Probably going to get run over by paparazzi." I heard a small laugh on the other line.

" _ Don't kill them with kindness. _ " I chuckled a little as I smiled at the phone.

"I won't try to. Talk to you when I get back home."

" _ You better. See you soon, Hotshot. _ " With that, it was the end of the call. I placed my phone back into my front jeans pocket before looking over to Toby who gave me a sad look.

"Dude, you really need to just tell her how you feel. To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out already." I rolled my eyes at him as I decided to put my carrying strap for my guitar over my shoulder so I wouldn't have to carry it by hand anymore.

"And you know exactly why I won't."

"Because of possible heartbreak and loss of a best friend?"

"Exactly." I gave him a wide smile as we stopped in front of the large black doors leading towards where the tour bus was parked. "I'll tell her at some point, just, not now."

"Jim, you're going to end up breaking yourself if you keep trying to brush it off." I gave Toby a sad smile as I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. But trust me, alright?" He nodded his head, knowing there wasn't much more to say about the topic.

_ Toby knew of my crush on Claire well before I even knew myself. I wasn't very good at understanding emotions and to be blunt, it was actually why I got into songwriting. It originally started as a way of expressing the emotions I didn't understand. A way of forcing what I didn't know into words so I can go back to it and know what I was truly feeling. _

_ So, when I started developing feelings for Claire, I was terrified. _

_ I never felt that way before about anyone and it frightened me. I knew that it was positive. I understood that I didn't dislike Claire or anything, but I never could put my finger on it. So when I started writing songs about her, Toby would joke that I was too far in deep. _

_ God almighty he was right. _

"Ready to get swarmed, my friend?" Toby gave me a wide smile as he pressed his hand on the push bar in the middle of the door. I gave him a wide smile as I placed a hand on my guitar's carrying strap.

"Let's do this."

He opened the heavy back door to be welcomed to a field of flashing cameras and microphones. I gave a large smile as I started to make my way through them and toward the tour bus that was in the slight distance. I heard them asking their usual questions.

_ How does it feel to be one of the media's favorite musicians right now? _

_ Do you think you'll have another album this coming year? _

_ What do you feel about (insert name of a random person here)? _

I chuckled at myself as I waved to some of them with my free hand while Toby was right beside me, telling them we didn't have time for questions since we were on a tight schedule. I continued my walk towards the tour bus with ease as I flashed some smiles while waving towards some of the paparazzi. I even made a point to ask how some of them were doing. Once we made our way towards the bus, I got on it without a second thought, knowing well that Toby would have our normal bodyguard Mitch take care of the rest.

_ I never had many problems with the paparazzi. To be honest, I've always felt bad for them. Their jobs depend on trying to get the worst side of people even if there is nothing terrible to even show. I also never really minded the cameras in the first place either. It was a little weird at first. It's something that takes time to adjust to, but once you get a feel for it, it's as easy as breathing. _

_ But some can be crazy with how they want the perfect shot, so that's why Mitch is involved. My personal protection from the crazy side of the camera spies. _

I took my normal seat in the back of the bus after taking my guitar off my shoulder and placing it down by my feet. Toby took the seat on the aisle across from me as he pulled out his tablet once more.

"Alright, my friend, we have probably an hour before we take off and then a two-hour drive till we're back in Los Angeles." He gave me a smile as he placed the tablet back into his inner jacket pocket. "Let's get some rest, alright?" I nodded my head, waiting for him to turn himself towards the bus window as he always did before staring out my own window to my right. I waited till I heard snoring before I pulled out my phone to see I had gotten a text from Claire during the walk here.

_ ‘Don't forget our small tradition! Tell me when you get home!’ _

I smiled at the attached image of a smiling Claire holding a tub of ice cream before I sent a quick text in reply.

_ ‘Wouldn't miss it for the world.’ _

I pressed the shutter button to close the phone screen and turned back to the window as I slid it back into my jeans pocket. The groggy feeling of over exertion finally showcasing its effects. I knew well that if I slept that my dreams would be filled with a certain Latina that has been plaguing them for years and that once I woke, I'll have another song to write. I felt myself sigh as I leaned back in my seat, my eyes closing slowly as Toby's light snore already started to fill the silence that was around us.

_ A little bit of sleep can't hurt anyone though. _

I felt myself drift away slowly as I was consumed by the urge to allow sleep's delicate hands to take me away into its wonderland.

I jolted myself awake to the sound of Toby's laugh as he pointed his thumb towards the front of the bus.

"We're back." I yawned a little as I raised my hands high above my head. I gave him a confused look as I grabbed my guitar before standing up myself.

"Already?" I gave him a cheeky smile as the tiredness was obvious within my voice.

"Yes sir! Now, let's go. Remember, I drove you here when we first left so hurry up or I'll leave you here." I laughed a little, knowing already that he wasn't going to do such a thing.

"Whatever you say, Tobes." I pulled out my phone as we made our way off the bus, thanking our long time bus driver, Greg, on our way off. "Don't forget to give him my gift, Tobes!" This causes Toby to turn after he stepped off the bus to give Greg a small envelope for dealing with the long drives and antics me and the crew we've built would cause. He waited for me to come off the bus myself before stepping back up and handing the small gift to the older man. He gave us a small nod as a large smile told us enough that he enjoyed the gesture. I looked down at my phone afterward to see we had made it to Los Angeles not long before midnight. As we walked towards Toby's red Mazda, I sent Claire a quick text saying we were back home before placing my phone back into my pocket. Toby nudged me with his elbow as he unlocked the car.

"I know you and Claire always have a small celebration once a tour is done, but you gotta remember, you have a meeting in the morning." I mockingly rolled my eyes as I opened the Mazda's passenger door.

"Whatever you say,  _ mom. _ " He pointed his finger towards me as he opened his own door.

"Don't make me leave you here, young man." I laughed as we both entered the car, my guitar sitting in between my legs as I buckled myself into the seat. As Toby started the car, I looked over to him as one of my songs started playing. He looked over to me at the same time as we both broke into a stupid fit of laughter. He put the car into the drive as he spoke once more. "Seems we can't get away from you, man."

"Hey! You're the one that agreed to be here." He chuckled at me as he started to drive, leaving it at that.

It didn't take us very long to arrive at my home. When people would think I splurged on everything that was in my life, I wasn't raised to be that way. My mother was a single mom that struggled between working as a doctor and being a mother. When I was young, she was juggling a part-time job, online night classes for her degree, all while taking care of a four-year-old on her own after my father left. So money was tight for the longest time and even when she was getting a decent excess amount, she never spoiled us with it. She put it aside now knowing that nothing was cement within the world and was fearful of what the world would throw our ways. So instead of giving me whatever I wanted, she made me work for what I desired. Even my first guitar was earned by doing lawn work and house chores for over a month. I never regretted it though as the Les Paul was still in my grasp today and was my favorite out of the three that I owned.

All in all, this resulted in me living a modest life. Even though I had enough to spend on a house worth much more than what I had, I enjoyed what I had and I understood that the money I earned could be used for far better use. The modern styled building had three rooms, one for me, one for my mom when she visited, and one for whoever needed to crash there. It had four bathrooms, one for each room, and then one on the first floor for visitors. There was a decent-sized pool out back and a garage that was attached to the left side of the house. The house itself was white with black trimmings to its design as a small roundabout was out front that ended right before the garage. It was small in width and was only two floors, but it was my own and I took great pride in it.

The driveway was normally empty as my car and Vespa that I had was usually hidden away in the garage, but a purple and black old-style Dodge Challenger was sitting there as Toby pulled up to the main walkway towards the front door that was on the right side of the roundabout before putting the Mazda in park.

"See you tomorrow, Jimbo." I flashed him a smile as I unbuckled myself and opened the car door.

"See ya, Tobes. Thanks for the ride. I'll drive us next time?"

"Only naturally." I chuckled at him as I exited the car.

"Goodnight man. Give Darci my regards." He flashed me a smile as he gave me a nod. It was obvious he was tired out but wanted to give me an indication that he knew what I was saying as he was leaving the rest of his energy to drive himself home. I closed the door after I grabbed my guitar out from where it was sitting before turning to see the Dodge's owner now leaning against her car. Claire stood there with a wide smile as she was in an open dark purple flannel that matched her car as a white tank top was obviously underneath it as a pair of off white jeans were placed with them. Her hair had grown longer since we were teens as she now had it in a low bun behind her neck. I felt a smile spread across my face at the scene as I dug into my pocket to grab out my keys. "You have a spare key. You could’ve let yourself in." Claire gave me a wide smile as she lifted a small grocery bag up beside her as she walked up to me.

"And start the party without you? Hell no." I chuckled at her as I walked up to unlock the door. Once I got the door opened, I flipped the three switches that sat on the right wall next to the door which lit up the whole first floor. Claire closed the door behind her as I went further into the house. I placed my guitar upright against the small bar island my kitchen had. I heard Claire's rushed feet run up beside me to place the small grocery bag onto the counter. I smiled at the idea as she walked around me to grab out two spoons as if she had done it a million times before.

_ Ever since my first tour, this was our way of celebrating the end of them. It started out as a joke when I ended up calling her at one in the morning to say I felt like adventuring out to get some ice cream but I didn't want to do it alone. That was the beginning of our small tradition solidified itself after three years and six tours. It wasn't big and it was just two good friends who were chilling with a tub of whatever flavor of the month was at the local corner store as they watched cartoons that either was nothing like they remembered or were just as good as they could remember. It wasn't huge, but it fit me and Claire well since we did something to the same kind of tune when we were in high school. _

I emptied out the grocery bag to see that Claire had obtained a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough as I gave her a quick glance, acting as if I wasn't already shown what she had gotten before. She just gave me a knowing cheeky smile as she took the two spoons she grabbed out and headed towards the long couch that I had set before a decent sized TV. She sat down in front of the couch like we always have as she set the two spoons out on the small coffee table.

"You have any plans tomorrow morning?" I walked over with the tub in hand before sitting down to Claire's right.

"I have a meeting at ten." She gave me a small kiddish pout as she handed a spoon to me. "What? Do you think I want to get out of bed before noon tomorrow? I feel as if I go to sleep anytime soon that I'll be asleep for a hundred years." Claire gave me a smirk as I took the spoon from her.

"And you say I'm dramatic."

"I say you're  _ overly  _ dramatic." Claire rolled her eyes at me as she took the tub from my hands, pulling the lid off before leaving it alone on the small table before her.

"So, what's our poison this time? Can't keep you up too late." I grabbed the remote that sat before us as Claire took her first dig into the ice cream.

"Avatar?"

"We're thinking of the same one, right?"

"The only one I would ever bring up." I flashed her a smile as she leaned back with the small spoonful of ice cream right before her.

"Let's fucking do this."

After what was a few of the beginning episodes of  _ The Last Airbender _ , ended with half of the tub being emptied, a head on my shoulder as I sat there contemplating if I wanted to move or not. I took a small glance over to Claire's face to see she was gently sleeping as her head nuzzled itself into my shoulder. I found myself smiling gently at the soft features that painted themselves on her face. My mind flashed to images of the same scene playing from years of being friends with a certain dark-haired woman. Flashes of a blue-streaked jet black bob to the slow change towards what was beside me now led to my smile deepening as Zuko's call for honor became background noise to me. Deciding to not wake the young woman next to me, I leaned my head on top of hers as I felt my eyes closing themselves on their own accord as I felt Claire push herself closer into my side as she murmured in her sleep.

_ Letting myself go a little won't hurt anyone, right? _

I felt a soft smile dance on my face as sleep slowly claimed me again. This time, not on my own.


	2. Still The Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my beautiful creatures! How y'all doing? Okay so I legit can't seem to stop writing about ToA atm and I have a feeling it's due to the emotional discourse that Wizards caused me but, to be honest, I'm quite okay with that. So, I took some time to add in more of the lore we gained from Wizards into more of my stories and even started a remake of one of my original ideas which is why it took me a little bit to get this second chapter started.
> 
> All in all, I hope you guys enjoy and don't hate me for how long this took.

I groaned lightly to myself as the sound of my alarm was blaring near me. I cracked my eyes open slowly, the sunlight invading my vision in both a welcoming and hateful manner as I blocked it slightly with my left hand. After my eyes had adjusted, I reached out and turned off the alarm from my phone, seeing with a glance that I had an hour or so before I had to leave for my meeting with Trevor.

With the groggy state I was in, I didn't notice the lack of weight upon my shoulder or the fact that Netflix _"are you still watching?"_ was gone from my now blank TV screen. I rose with a slight pain in my back that I eased once I stretched back with a content sigh. I glanced around for a moment, trying to see any sign from the Latina that had been sleeping peacefully beside me to be welcomed to a small folded note sitting on my coffee table I was sleeping in front of. I sat on the couch before it as I grabbed the small paper and unfolded it.

_Hey there Jim._

_Woke up before you did and decided that this would keep you from freaking out if I wasn't back yet._

I rolled my eyes at her claim. She wasn't wrong, but nonetheless, I continued to read her letter.

_I decided to go take a shower while you were still out. I didn't want to wake you since it's rare for you to sleep so pleasantly. If you need me and I'm still not back down, I should be upstairs still._

_Your favorite pain, Claire_

_P.S: Your best idea ever was letting each of us have rooms in our houses. Saves my ass every time._

I chuckled at the note as I folded it back into its original square shape before slipping it into my jeans pocket. I stood once more as I found my way to the kitchen attached to the living room and dining area. I opened my silver fridge to pull out a water bottle and took a couple of giant gulps from it as I closed the door. Thinking back to the note, I sighed lightly as I closed the cap on the plastic water bottle I had in my hands.

_She's not wrong. I've never slept well in years. That was probably the best sleep I've had in at least the last few months._

My hand reached up and rubbed at the scar that cut through my left eyebrow as I knew full well that there were a few more upon my face. One across the bridge of my nose while another was on my right cheek as well as my chin.

_I haven't slept silently alone since before the accident._

Flashes of fire and the smell of gasoline flooded my memory as I gripped the edge of the counter I was now leaning against.

_Okay Jim, remember what mom taught you. Four things you feel, three things you see, two things you smell, and one thing you hear. Come on, buddy. You got this._

The faded memory of the taste of blood within my mouth came to the front of my mind as I tried my best to take a deep breath.

_Okay. Things I feel. The counter. The plastic of the bottle. My tongue in my mouth. My shirt on my skin._

I released my breath as I continued through the list.

_What I see. The marble of the counter. The black and white tiles. My hands._

_Two things I smell._

I gripped my head as the sudden bombarding of the memories from that day filled my head once more.

_The smoke. I still smell it. It's as if I can still feel the blood on my face._

_The gas. I can smell it. The screams of those watching the scene but **never lending a hand**. Watching and filming, but never moving from their spots. The flashes of cameras. They mumble and murmurs, I still hear them. God the screams of the other man. His voice had grown hoarse with each try while he continued his pleads for help. My broken bones and cracked skull left me in my place or I would have gotten myself over there. Even if it had been his fault._

_I should have listened to mom that day._

_It was stupid to think a doctor didn't know better than her sixteen-year-old son._

_I still feel it._

_I see it._

"Jim?"

_I hear her._

_I feel the counter._

_I smell the faded scent of strawberries as she approaches._

_I see the tiles._

_I feel her touch._

_I'm here._

"Jim?" Her voice calls out to me once more as her hand crosses over my back and finds its way to my shoulder. She waited patiently for my response, knowing well that speaking too much could cause a fearful reaction from me.

It only happened once but she keeps her voice soft and her touch delicate. She knows me too well. Knows the pain too well.

"Sorry, I-. I just-." She gave me a soft laugh as the hand that was on my shoulder rubbed gently into my back, knowing that she was allowed to as I was out of the panicked state.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But I should be over this by now."

"It was traumatic, Jim. For the rest of the world, it has been years, but to your mind it was yesterday. You don't need to explain yourself to anyone. No one. Not me, not Toby, hell, even yourself." I chuckled a little to Claire's response as her hand settled on my shoulder once more. I placed a hand on top of hers as I looked over to her.

"I don't deserve you at times." This rewarded me with a giggle from the slightly shorter woman.

"Keep talking like that and we're going to have a problem, Jim."

"It's the truth!" I turned to her completely with a smile dancing across my lips. "If it weren't for you sometimes, I wouldn't know what to do with myself." She reached out and placed her hand back on my shoulder, this time shaking it gently with a soft smile of her own.

"How do you think I feel?" She reached out her other hand to me with a soft look in her eyes. "Hug?" I felt my features subside gently as a small smile took over the wide one I was giving her. I pulled her into my arms gently, speaking in a whisper as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Do you even have to ask?" I enjoyed the warmth her figure gave me as her arms hooked themselves around my neck. She wasn't much shorter than I was with her head easily being able to place itself on my shoulder while I comfortably placed my hands on her back. I felt myself sigh gently as I felt her gently toy with the back of my hair.

_Ever since I first started getting panic attacks, she would do that to soothe me. It was her way of showing she cared in moments she knew that too much affection could cause a reaction within the state between memories and reality. It always brought me back to reality. Always brought me back to the moment. Brought me back to her._

We pulled apart gently, her wide smile shining up to me as her hands were now placed on my biceps. I was still a rather skinny kid, but I had gained a decent amount of muscle from lugging around guitars and equipment for shows so at least I wasn't as stick thin as before, but her hand could almost wrap itself around it with ease.

_Maybe I should take up Steve's offer of weight training more often._

"Now." Claire patted my arms twice before speaking once more. "How about you go take a shower while I get you something to eat, huh?" A smirk found its way on my face as a memory of smoke alarms and a burnt pot from Claire's failed attempt to boil water from when we were in high school.

"And leave you alone in my kitchen? Last time that happened, you owed me a new boiling pot."

"That was in high school. Give a girl a break." I chuckled at Claire as she rolled her eyes at me. Noticing now that her hair wasn't in its normal bun and that she was wearing a shirt much too big for herself due to how a rubber band kept it bundled on her waist while a pair of some of her sweats she kept in her little stash in what she claimed as her hideaway room covered her legs and nearly her feet from view.

"When did you decide to steal my shirts?"

"When I found out they were much comfier than the form-fitting ones I have here." She gave me a cheeky smile as she slipped out of my grasp. "Now, go and get a shower. It'll help. I promise not to burn down your house." I chuckled at her as she patted me on my shoulder as she passed by me.

"Fine, but if I get trapped in a fire, I'll haunt you in the afterlife." I left the kitchen to start my way towards the stairs. I looked out behind me to see Claire was already scavenging through my fridge for materials. I smiled at the sight as she flipped her hair over her shoulder as it was getting in her way.

No wonder why I've been into her for a while. She has been there for me when I was at my lowest and treated me as if I was okay to be there. Instead of trying to force me to act how I used to be, she let me roll with the punches and she allowed me to heal at my own pace. She showed me care in her own way. She let me be who I was, even if I was changing from who she knew.

_It was just an added fact that the loving caring friend of mine was also breathtakingly beautiful._

I chuckled at myself as I started my way actually up the stairs.

_Don't be one of those guys, Jim. You know you love more than just her looks._

* * *

I still had memories of Jim's accident just as much as he did.

The call Toby gave me a call at nine o'clock will forever be imprinted in my memory for as long as I'll live. The pain in his voice. The doubt I felt until I realized it was real than the dread that replaced it. The flashes of hospital beds and lights as he and I shared tears over our shared friend until well past midnight will probably be the moment that caused the two of us to be closer as friends. We didn't care for each other much until then and it was terrible it was that way, but it's the moments of shared pain that bring people closer and ours was the moment we had thought we lost Jim to a drunk driver.

Jim and Toby were supposed to have a guys night together. I remember how excited Jim was about it since it had been ages to him since the last time they had one. He was on the phone with me right before he said he was going to take his Vespa from his uncle's shop to Toby's. A trip he had taken many times over the year after he built said Vespa.

But from what the report said, he was on his Vespa at a red night when a white truck rammed into the back of his ride from behind. This caused Jim to be flung from his ride, skid across the road into the middle of the intersection where his Vespa landed straight onto his left arm and leg, causing them to shatter on impact. Glass from the impact found its way into his eyebrow, nose, and cheek. The doctor that spoke to Toby, Barbara, and I explained that if the impact was any faster or if he didn't keep his head straight, he could have lost the sight in one if not both of his eyes.

The sight of Jim hooked up to so many IVs and tubes after being released from surgery for the first time will be something I will never forget. Bandages over have his face, his leg being hung up from suspension pulley as his already casted arm was laying beside him. He had a few noticeable road burns from his skidding motion. His pale blue hospital gown had given his pale skin a sickly coloration in comparison. I remember walking up to his right side and subconsciously taking his hand in mine, even though it was wrapped to protect it from the effects of road burn. The lack of his normal radiating warmth made me sob lightly to myself as I glanced down at his face.

I was thankful that day when they said he was due to make a full recovery, but it would be a day I loathed for the rest of my life.

The effects of the accident weighed heavily on Jim's shoulders. He refused to go anywhere unless we walked or went on our bikes. The work he used to do for his Uncle halted almost completely, even though working for Blinky's mechanic shop was something I knew the young man enjoyed more than anything in the world. What used to be bright blue enthusiastic eyes were replaced with darkened ones. He grew distant at times while it was obvious he had grown tired both mentally and physically from the events. He had panic attacks at just the sound of a car horn.

It led me to believe there was a lot more that happened to him that day, but I never bothered to question him any further since I knew it wasn't my place.

But I tried my best to be there for him. Answering his late-night calls when he couldn't sleep, taking him on walks when his panic attacks started to flare, and even analyzing for subtle cues of his anxiety flares all became my way of helping him. I was patient and waited for him to come to me with his nightmares. It came to the point where we didn't even need to explain to the other what we needed. We became a small little support duo for each other. Even if it was Jim that needed it more within those times.

_I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I grabbed my vibrating phone from my nightstand, leaning up slightly as I answered the call without a second glance._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey." His voice came through a little shaken as it was obvious he was still trying to catch his breath. He didn't say another word as his short panting could be heard easily over the line._

_"Did I ever tell you about the new album I picked up?" I didn't even wait for his reply. I already knew he just needed to hear me speak to get him through the moment he was dealing with. "I think you would enjoy it. Some of the songs were written by that Flick guy you talk about a lot. I know you're a bit more of the softer side, but it's a punk group. I don't think you would mind it though. Especially with the lyric choices." I continued talking as I knew he was using the conversation as a way to bring himself down from his attack. When I ran out on what to say, I heard a shuffle on the other end before Jim spoke with a soft voice._

_"Thanks, Claire." I smiled as I noticed that the shaken trimmer to his voice had vanished._

_Mission accomplished._

_"No problem. Do you want me to stay on the line a little longer?"_

_"No, I think I'll be fine. I'm sorry for bothering you." I rolled my eyes at that statement as I placed an arm behind my head._

_"You know you're never a bother, Jim. You can always call me again if you need to."_

_"Thanks, Claire. Hopefully, I won't need to."_

_"Alright. Good night, Jim."_

I smiled at the memory as I leaned against the counter, waiting for the bread I was toasting to pop back out of the toaster. I pulled my phone out of the front pocket of my sweats, opening the images and scrolling through my high school album as my smile widened at the sight of our friend group only four or so years ago.

_Wow. How much we have changed._

I nearly snorted at one being of Toby, Jim, Darci, Mary, and I in a group photo where Jim and Toby were giving each other bunny ears with their tongues stuck out at the camera as Darci and Mary were giving wide smiles as I held the camera for all of us with my eyes closed and a giant grin on my face. There were no faded scars or signs of tiredness in any of our faces. Just five happy teens enjoying a day out in the park together.

_How simple those times were._

A smile appeared on my face as the toaster gave a soft pop to indicate they were finished. I put my phone away with a soft click of the home button as my body went back into autopilot once again.

I still remember how Mary and Darci would toy with me saying that they doubted that Jim and I wouldn't be dating by the time high school had ended. Especially after they found out about how I felt about the slightly older teen.

_"So what? Nothing is going to change." I rolled my eyes as I closed my locker with my history book tucked into my left arm._

_"It would if, you know, SAY SOMETHING!" Mary gave me an annoyed look as her exasperation was obvious in her voice. "It's obvious he feels the same! Why not ask him out?"_

_"And lose him over something stupid? I rather not." I brought my books up to my chest as we started walking to class together. "Plus. He's just started to act like himself again. I don't want to mess with that."_

_"So you rather bury your feelings? What are you going to do if it lasts a lot longer than you thought?"_

_Absolutely nothing._

I giggled at myself as I placed the last buttered toast next to the eggs that I finished not long ago. I grabbed out two forks and placed them beside both of the plates I had set up before putting the dishes I used into the dishwasher he had beside his stove and started it up after placing a soap pod in it. I leaned over the counter as I heard the light thumping of Jim's feet as he came down the staircase. As he ruffled his hair lightly as he walked over. It was only then that I realized that his hair was a bit longer than it was when we were in school. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Eggs? And you didn't burn down the kitchen? I'm impressed." I gave me a wide smile as I pushed his plate closer to him.

"There's a lot more to me than you know." He chuckled at that as he picked up his fork, leaning against the counter like I was. He picked up a piece of the scrambled eggs and put it in his mouth. After a few seconds, his eyebrows went up as he looked over to me.

"These are actually pretty good. Did you actually listen to me when I said oregano and basil could change everything?"

"No, but I'll keep that in mind next time." He chuckled at me once more as we began to eat in almost complete silence. I took the chance to glance over the changes that have happened to my long term friend. The scars were obvious, but there was much more than just that. His jaw has grown and defined more with time. The childish features he had in the photos I was looking at had nearly vanished from his features. I smiled to myself as I picked up the toast to take a bite out of it.

_But still the same Jim as always._

"Damn it." I looked back up to him to see he was already nearly done with his plate as he was checking his phone. "I gotta get going. I have to go across town in less than twenty minutes." He picked up his toast and gave me a smile as he put his phone in his pocket. I hadn't noticed until now that he was wearing an outfit much like he did when we were teens. An open blue jacket over a white t-shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans that were coupled with a leather belt.

"I already started up your dishwasher so I don't think I would mind cleaning up the rest."

"You sure? I can always take care of it when I come back."

"No, I got it. Go ahead and head out." I gave him a smile as I took our plates to put them together. "I'm twenty. I think I can handle some dishes."

"And you're my guest. I can handle it when I'm home."

"And I'm your friend. I got this." He rolled his eyes at me as he grabbed his keys off the counter.

"I'm not winning this argument, am I?"

"Nope! You can next time though." He laughed wholeheartedly at me as he shook his head.

"You have your key right?" I nodded my head as he took a bite of his toast, swallowing before he spoke again. "Alright. Just lock up when you decide to leave. I'll text you what Trevor wants out of me."

"You better!" I called after him as he had already started to make his way to the garage. I waited for a second as I heard the door that connected to his garage close softly behind him before I opened the dishwasher and added the used plates before starting it back up again.

_It might have been four years and we have changed so much physically, but we're still the same kids from back then._

_And I'm still the same lovesick girl from sophomore year._


	3. Shut Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my beautiful creatures! How is y'all doing today? I hope y'all are doing well. I have spent a little too long on this chapter mainly because I had no clue how to end it until I remembered what someone commented on AO3 that made me lose my shit so I used that as inspiration.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this though! Much love for ya!

I parked my bike into one of the empty spots in the parking lot before cutting the engine off with a sigh. I pulled out my phone to see that I had made it with three minutes to spare.

_At least I don't have to hear Trevor complaining about me being late again. If I have to hear that speech one more time, I might actually lose it._

I took off my helmet with a smile as I placed my key from the ignition back onto its ring. I kept the helmet in my grasp as I swung my leg over the side of the bike so I could stand beside it. I made my way into the building without a second thought not feeling much of anything as I entered the building.

_Same old routine._

I smiled towards Laura that worked the main counter as I walked past her. "Good morning, Laura."

"Good morning, Jim! A meeting with Trevor, I presume?" I smiled towards the older woman as I reached the elevator.

"As always. Just thankful it's him and not Strickler."

If I ever had to have a meeting with Strickler, that might just be the end of my career right there.

I swallowed hard at the thought as I pressed the elevator's call button.

_Note to self, I should be thankful I always meet with Trevor. That just means the label enjoys what I'm doing._

"Well, I hope you enjoy talking numbers with our favorite marketer."

"Will do! Thanks, Laura."

"No problem, kiddo." I flashed her one last smile before entering the elevator and pressing onto the tenth-floor button.

_Oh, how odd it is to remember that it has only been three years since I first entered this building. It feels like I have spent more time in these offices than I ever had in classrooms._

I shook my head at myself as I exited the elevator. Almost instantly, I was welcomed to a familiar face.

"Well isn't it my favorite blue boy." The woman gave me a wide smile as she placed her hands on my shoulders. The older woman had dark black hair that complimented well with her bright green eyes and fair skin. "How are you doing kid?" I felt myself smile towards the warm greeting.

"I'm doing well, Nomura. How are you today? Having any trouble with your little goblins?" I smirked as she rolled her eyes at my second question.

"Don't get me started on those interns. If I get one more question of how to forward the final edit of a song to the archives through the database, I will lose my goddamn mind." She laughed at herself for a second as my smile deepened.

_Nomura is the head of the Studio Services department along with being Strickler's right-hand woman. The thirty-something-year-old woman had spent most of her life studying, analyzing, and creating music with a unique eye for the craft. It had gotten to the point that even having the woman's surname added to the copyrights on an album was something to brag about in the industry. She usually comes off as cold and calculating to those that first meet her, but over the three years I have spent a part of Janus Records, she has grown to be kind to me._

_Something I was both not expecting as well as heavily relieved to have given to me._

"Well, I have a meeting with Trevor I need to suffer through." Nomura rolled her eyes at that as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Mr. Thinks-He-Can-Market-Because-He-Thinks-Controversy-Is-Everything? Good luck kid." I chuckled a little at that.

_Well, she isn't wrong. Trevor was well known for setting up rather questionable stunts within the industry. May it be fake headlines, questionable album cover, or even just making the media believe in something that purely wasn't true, Trevor has more than likely crafted a perfect way to present it as meaningful truths. The man made a career off of his handcrafted controversies._

_I was just lucky I haven't been subject to them as of yet._

"I'll need it. Thank, Nomura."

"Don't sweat it, kid. Have a good one."

"You too." I gave the older woman a smile as I made my way by her. A chilling feeling went down my spine as I heard her whistle softly an ironic tune that was known as the song of Nomura's wrath as she walked away.

_I will never hear In the Hall of the Mountain King the same again. Someone had upset the woman, and from the conversation I had with her, I could not tell you who her victim will be. Only that there will be one._

I tried my best to shake the eerie feeling from my limbs as I knocked on Trevor's office door.

"Enter!" I opened the door with a forced smile since the feeling of dread from Nomura's whistle still ran through my bones. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I chuckled a little at Trevor's statement.

"I spoke with Nomura on the way in."

"In the Hall of the Mountain King?" I gave him a single nod as I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of him. "I feel bad for whichever poor bastard pissed her off."

"I have never been on the receiving end of her wrath, but from what I was told when I first joined the label, it's a sight to be frightened by."

"Oh most definitely." Trevor adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "I have only been on the receiving end of it once and that taught me enough to never cross the woman again."

Trevor was an older man. He had been in the marketing industry for music since the late seventies and was still a rather known name to those within it. The slightest tint of silver in his dark hair showcased enough the effects of his years in not just the business, but life in general. The slightest of wrinkles and age marks on his tan skin could be seen on his face as he leaned back in his leather chair. The man's brown suit jacket rolled up his forearms slightly as he placed his hands together before him.

"I guess this is going to be about the next album?"

"Technically." I gave the man a confused look as I placed my helmet between my feet.

"What do you mean?" Trevor leaned forward so that his elbows were on his desk.

"This next album is personal to you, yeah? I listened to one of the few songs you already have recorded. It's beautiful so far."

"Yeah, it is. Thank you, by the way."

"It speaks of unrequited love, the one I listened to. I think it was called 'Why'." My eyes widened at the mention of that song in particular.

_'Why' was a song I wrote on my way back from tour last year. It was speaking about how I felt with Claire as well as the fact that if what I was told was true about how she felt of me, then why were we torturing each other. It's probably my favorite one of the songs I have written so far out of what I was told needs to be a fifteen track album._

"Uh, yes. What about that one?"

"We want you to make a music video for it." I gave him another confused look. It was normal for them to ask for specific songs to get music videos, but it was never something that Trevor was in charge of. He was usually the one that spoke of how we would get the music videos seen. He was never one to plan on which song was to be picked.

"Am I speaking to the right person right now? I thought this was for album marketing." This caused a small chuckle to come from the brown suit-wearing man.

"I know. I'm shocked as well, but I spoke with those in the marketing department and we agreed that this is a brilliant idea." He gave me a wide smile. "We believe this will truly drive home the idea that this is a personal album to you. Making a video for that song will cause more people to see the more sensitive side to your music." I nodded along to his words as I placed my hands on my thighs. "But we have one thing we want to bring up to you about this idea."

"And what is that?"

"We want you to work with Miss. Nuñez." I sat there for a second, remembering that Claire was talking about how a record label was asking her to work for them for a video while we were exiting the last concert the night before.

"So you're the one that spoke with Claire yesterday?" A large smile plastered on Trevor's face as he seemed to light up like a lamp at the idea of us possibly speaking about it already.

"You spoke to her about the idea already?"

"No, actually. She said she was asked to work for the label for a video and she was worried it would cut into her schedule for her Turbo Raiders movie she had been working on." I scratched the back of my neck as I continued. "Doesn't help that I was on a performer's high from the concert." This pulled another laugh from Trevor. "But why Claire and I in this video? Is there a specific reason you want us to work together?"

Even though I would happily do so, it rubbed me the wrong way as to why we wanted to work together. I always loved working with Claire since we were in high school. It always felt as if the work we were doing was never really work to begin with. But the fact that a marketing manager was asking for us to be in a video together is something that felt, off, to me.

"Well. It's not a hidden fact of the media that both of your fans enjoy seeing the two of you together." He leaned back into his chair once more, putting his elbows on his chair's arms as he went back. "We figured since this is an album about a different side of you, you should add in someone that has seen that. Miss. Nuñez is someone that has seen this as well as someone that the media wants to see more of you with." The smile on his face told me enough that there was more to his statements than what he was truly saying. I know there was something that he was hiding from me. There was much more to this than what he was saying to me.

_But he won't say it._

I felt myself release a breath I was holding. I knew that he won't say what he really wanted from this plan, but I also knew that if I didn't follow suit, it won't just affect me anymore but also Claire, who due to me, had more than likely accepted the offer.

_No wonder why they contacted her the day before._

"I'll talk to her about it." I forced a smile on my face as I grabbed my helmet between my feet.

"Wonderful!" Trevor stood up and extended his hand towards me. I got to my feet and took his hand to shake it twice before retracting my hand.

"That was all, right?"

"You already know the album count number and the music video idea." He hummed for a second as he rubbed his chin. "Oh! Your ticket sales were wonderful! We're looking forward to this new creative release of yours." I gave him a nod and another smile.

"Thank you. Great seeing you, Trevor."

"You as well, Jim. Close the door if you may, my friend." I did as he said as I sighed heavily as I found myself instantly heading towards the elevator. I pressed the button and toyed with my helmet in both of my hands. It was a black painted helmet with two horns added to the front of the object that swept and turned as they reached the back of the helmet. There were blue lightning marks and strips that led from and away from the horns. The visor was black, but the attached parts on the sides of the visor were the same color as the lightning. As I turned it around in my hand, it showcased multicolored signatures on the back lower part of the helmet. From left to right there was 'Mary W., Toby Tobes, C-Bomb Claire, and Darci :P' in different forms and styles.

_"Do you like it?" I rotated the black object in my hand, the horns making it difficult for me to do so._

_"What's with the horns?" I gave Claire an arched eyebrow as she rolled her eyes at me._

_"Toby said you would like it."_

_"Well, he wasn't wrong. I was just wondering why." I chuckled at her as she just laughed at me lightly._

_"Ask Toby then! Mary, Darci, and I just wanted to get you something new since the old one cracked." It had been a few months since the accident and I have gone without touching my newly repaired Vespa stating that I needed a new helmet to do so. I knew personally that I had much more of a sensitive reason as to why, but I didn't have the strength to say it yet._

_"Thank you. I love it." Claire gave me a wide smile as she placed a hand on my shoulder._

_"You should see if it fits."_

_"I don't feel like going for a ride today."_

_"You don't have to go for a ride to see if it fits." I looked down at the helmet before almost instantly placing it on my head. It fitted it like a glove. I turned my head towards her as I knocked my knuckles against the side of the headgear._

_"What do you think?" She reached out without a second to delay and buckled the little chin strap that was hanging from the chin line of the headpiece. She pulled the strap lightly as all I could do was feel my breath catch itself in my chest from the sudden closeness the simple action provided. When she pulled back, she placed a hand where my right cheek would be if the helmet wasn't blocking her hand's path to my skin._

_"Perfect."_

I smiled at the memory as I placed the helmet on my head as I waved Laura a quick goodbye. I buckled the chin strap before pulling out my phone from my jeans pocket.

_Just got out of my meeting with Trevor. I'm the one the label wants you to work with on that music video thing lol_

I sent the text without a second thought to Claire as I got onto the motorcycle. I placed my phone between my thighs as I grabbed out my keys from my jacket that was still zipped up from when I first got on the bike at my house. I pulled the bike's engine key off the keyring before placing the keys back into my jacket. I checked my phone after I felt it vibrate from where it was sitting.

_HOLY SHIT! You're kidding, right? They just asked me if I wanted to work for a music video._

I smiled at the text before sending a reply quickly.

_Nope! They want us to work together for a song I haven't released yet. Do you want to talk about it later if you're free?_

I started the bike's engine as the phone notified a rather quick reply. What I was sent was a photo of Claire, Mary, and Darci smiling together in a mirror. It was obvious by the drastic change of make-up for Mary and Claire that they were getting ready for some kind of photoshoot.

_I can talk after we finish these headshots for the film lol I can make sure I'm open for a call in an hour or so :P_

I replied okay quickly before pressing the shutter button and slipping it away in my jeans pocket. A smile dancing on my lips as I reversed out of the parking spot.

* * *

"So, Trevor asked Claire if she wanted to act for a music video for the label?"

"Yep."

"Before he even spoke to you?"

"Uh-huh."

"Saying that they believe that the media wants to see more of the two of you?"

"Don't forget the fact that it's a song I wrote about her, even though I doubt Trevor knows that." I sighed as the two of us sat at his kitchen table. He and Darci had made a comfortable home for the two of them as the quaint house seemed like a small combination between the two of them. Toby's dorky and energetic personality seemed to mix well with Darci's more reserved and calm demeanor as the decor seemed to have this modern style tied with bright color splashes around the house.

Darci felt the same as I had when it came to the idea of the fact that you didn't need the world to be happy. I believed this was due to how her and I had the same kind of upbringing by our single parents. Her dad worked long shifts as a detective in Arcadia Oaks just how my mom slaved graveyard shifts at the hospital. This made both of us value time more than anything and give us less than a single fuck to give on what objects we possessed.

Toby, I knew he wanted to give his girlfriend the perfect home. The contact we had signed gave him well enough to do that throughout the years, but she refused. It was one of the few things I shared with my best friend's long term love and it made it easy for Toby to understand after I had to explain why I was the same way.

_"That thing about how you look for your best friend in relationships is true huh?" He laughed lightly as I rolled my eyes at the nineteen-year-old at the time._

_"If this is your way of comparing yourself to Claire, I rather not hear it." This only caused the redhead to burst out into laughter as he smacked my arm._

_"I wasn't planning on it but, God that would be hilarious wouldn't it?"_

"Do you think there's more to it?" I looked back up to Toby, now realizing that the memory slowly faded as I was placed back into reality.

"To be honest, I do." I leaned back into the kitchen chair as I toyed with the coffee cup full of fresh coffee he had given me. "He had that Trevor smile you hate so much."

"The one where he looks kind of like the Joker?" I nodded my head before I took a sip of the coffee. "Man. There must be more to it then. Remember the last time he gave us that smile? We ended up getting you roped into a Calvin Klien photoshoot." I groaned as I put a hand through my hair.

"Don't remind me." This caused Toby to laugh at my literal pain from the memory.

"Oh come on, the photoshoot wasn't that terrible."

"Yeah, the pictures weren't any trouble. It was the reactions of everyone that made it troublesome."

"I thought you got used to teenage girls losing their minds over you."

"Not while shirtless and definitely not when even grown adults were asking me about it." Toby gave me a cheeky smile as he leaned back in his chair before it slowly turned into a normal look dancing in his green eyes.

"So, are you going to accept it?" I hummed as I drummed my fingers against the table. "To be honest, it's not often that the company wants you to work with someone you _actually_ enjoy." I couldn't help but snort a little at that statement as a laugh found its way out of me.

_Oh isn't that the truth._

"I don't know yet. Claire said to call her in an hour after I got out of my meeting so we could talk it over."

"And without your manager? How could you?" He gave me a hurt look that immediately turned into a fit of laughter. "Just kidding, I still want the details though. I need to know how to schedule everything else around." I pulled out my phone as I felt it vibrate in my pocket, seeing that it was a text from Claire on my lock screen.

_Ready to talk business? lol That sounds too adult-like for me._

"Speak of the devil." I flashed Tobes a smile as I decided to just call her instead of replying. I put it on speaker and placed it on the center of the table so Toby could listen in as well. After a few rings, the call went through.

 _"Jesus! Don't you know phone call etiquette? You're supposed to reply and then you call."_ I found myself smiling as Toby shook his head at her opening statement.

"Now when was I ever good at phone calls? You and Toby made fun of me for months after I struggled to make a doctor's appointment in high school."

"Hey! That was hilarious and no one can say otherwise!"

 _"Preach Domzalski!"_ I rolled my eyes as Claire's and Toby's laugh mixed together over the old me's panic attack.

"Why did I bring that up?" I leaned my head into my hand after placing the coffee cup on the table.

 _"Because you love us?"_ Her voice was obviously mocking the situation as a small giggle came out of her. _"But anyway! I only have a thirty-minute break so we gotta make this fast if you want to go over everything now."_

"Really? Only thirty-minutes?"

_"Trust me, Toby, it makes me die a little. I kind of enjoyed the longer breaks we had when actually filming the movie."_

"Okay," I leaned my weight on the table as I crossed my arms to press my weight onto my elbows, but as if doing the same was going to make the conversation more serious, Toby did the same action across from me. "Trevor stated that the marketing department wants us to do a video for a song-"

_"Oh, the horror."_

"That isn't even released yet."

"Oh. Holy shish-kabob. Have they ever asked for that before?"

"Nope!" I smiled up at Toby that answered her first. "This is even the first time they asked Jim to work with someone specifically so it's something we have never even dealt with before. Adding in it's a song that hasn't even met its final edit yet, it's kind of a big deal at the moment."

_"Yeah. This sounds-"_

"Kind of frightening?"

 _"Yeah."_ Her nervous laugh echoed through the phone as she seemed to contemplate the idea. _"What are you thinking so far, Jim? How do you feel about this?"_

"To be honest," I looked up at Toby that gave me a knowing smile before I looked back down at the phone. "I'm kind of down for it. It's very often I get to work with people I actually enjoy."

_"If you're down for it, then I am. But hey, didn't you say these new songs are personal? Are you sure-"_

"If you're asking if they are too personal to work with you on, I would immediately say no." I found myself chuckling lightly at myself as I continued. "If anything, if it weren't you I was working with, I would have said no almost instantly."

 _"Awe, that makes me feel special."_ I felt my cheeks flush lightly at her statement while Toby's knowing eyes felt as if they were burning into my skin. I knew if I glanced up, the shorter man would have a wide Cheshire grin dancing on his face. _"Count me in then."_

"You're serious?"

_"Hell yeah! But I want to hear the song we'll be working on together. If it's one of your sad ones, I might cry up teen times during filming if I don't try to become numb to it beforehand."_

"Totally. I can send you the demo of it I have on my recording set up at home."

 _"Bet."_ In the distance, it was obvious she was being called for by a familiar voice. _"Alright! I'll be right there! Just let me finish up this call. I swear Mary might be the death of me."_ I found myself laughing lightly at that before responding.

"Didn't you say that all throughout high school?"

 _"Did you have to deal with her Tight Pants Hank addiction? I don't think so."_ Toby and I both laughed wholeheartedly at that as she continued with her goodbye. _"Well,"_ _I'll speak to you guys later. Let me know if you guys get any updates."_

"You got it, C-Bomb." Toby gave the phone a salute, even though it was obvious she couldn't see it.

"Catch you around, Claire."

 _"Stay sane boys."_ With that, the line cut off, showing Claire's name on the screen before going back to normal. I pressed the shutter button before slipping it back into my jean pockets. I leaned back in the chair as Toby still had his large knowing smile on his face as he did the same.

"Oh, I can feel pining from here."

"Shut up."


	4. Chillax, Jimmy Jam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will fully admit I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing with this story as of yet. I know what I want to happen, I just legit have no clue how to get there yet. I'll figure it out though, don't worry.
> 
> Anyway! I legit think the friendships within this series are probably my favorite thing in the world and I hope I did it justice within this chapter.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this! Much love!

_"Jim. I swear if you wait any longer to send this, I will drive to your house and press send for you."_

"What if she realizes it's about her? She's always right on what she thinks I'm speaking about."

_"James Lake Junior I swear to fuck."_

"I know I know." I sighed as I tugged gently at the front of my hair as I kept my phone up against my ear. "I need to chill."

 _"Oh definitely. To quote Mary, chillax Jimmy Jam."_ I found myself laughing lightly as Toby's voice calmed me slowly. _"Just send her the MPV file. Don't think about the what-ifs. This isn't high school, Jim. It's not the end if she figures it out or not. To be honest, if she does, that means you can both stop pining and just fucking get over each other."_

"You know, that is what the song is about." I chuckled lightly as I leaned back in my computer chair within my room. I never really kept much in my room once I had bought the house. Keeping a bed in the center fitted with dark blue sheets between two tall black wood bookshelves that either had sections either filled with notebooks and journals or completely empty. The desk I was sitting at was under the nearly full wall of windows that allowed the sunlight to scatter across the room with ease. Besides the slight difference in setup and the longness of the room, it was much like the room I had in my childhood home.

_Well, other than the small recording set up I had within the room._

A small five-piece drum kit took up the back right side of the room as a bass and a guitar amp were each on the respective sides of it. A keyboard kept itself in its case in the opposite corner while my normal guitar and a purple bass were on their respective stands. I sat back up so I was sitting upright in the chair as I placed my elbows on the desk, staring at the bright blue and white send button.

"I'm treating this like it's a love confession."

_"Exactly what I'm saying! God, man. If Claire was hearing this, she would force you to look her in the eyes while she's scorning you about worrying about nothing."_

"Don't remind me of annoyed Claire. That side of her scares me."

_"Then just send it to her already! Or you'll get angry Claire and neither of us needs that."_

I slapped the enter key, sending off the attachment to her before I could second guess it for the thirtieth time.

"There. I sent it."

 _"Finally! Bro, you really need to relax."_ I scratched the back of my neck as I felt my face flush in embarrassment.

"Yeah. But you know me better than anyone."

 _"You worry about everything."_ He chuckled through the line as I felt a smile spread across my face. _"But dude, you've known Claire for years. You've been friends for years. Not as long as you and I have and I personally say I will be your best friend until you end up killing me, but she knows you better than most. You act as it'll be the end of the world for you if she finds out. At least, if she hasn't found out already."_ I sighed as I leaned back in my chair once more.

"I know." I looked over to the right side of my desk where I had a small photo of four familiar figures together. Three being Claire, Toby, and I, but another was a dark clothed twenty year old when it was when the three of us near the older figure were around eighteen at the time. At least by how there was a white bleached sweep of hair in Claire's bangs at the time. The dark clothed teen and I were on either side of a smiling Claire as Toby was by my right side with a peace sign being held up. I had my arms over Claire's and Toby's shoulders as the two punks on my left held up two rock-n-roll signs with their left hands together as the taller boy between them had their tongue sticking out. "Hey, have you heard from Douxie?"

 _"Actually, yeah. I completely forgot that he wanted me to ask you if you needed any musical help on your album."_ I smiled at the thought as I reached out and grabbed the old photo.

"Tell him definitely. I always love working with Doux. Even if it means Nomura getting upset with us about it."

" _Do you two understand how crucial it is to speak to the record labels before working together?!" Douxie gave Nomura a wide smile as he raised a single finger up before speaking._

_"To be quite blunt darling, I'm off the clock and Merlin knows exactly where I'm at." I rolled my eyes slightly at Douxie as he brought up his overseer at the label he was signed to. Even though the two of us had different styles, Douxie and I would always come out with something beautiful when we worked together. May it be me helping him with lyrics for his band or him lending a hand to my sheet music, the outcome was always something fascinating. It made money for our labels and entertainment for our fans so no one really ever paid it any attention._

_But how we always went around the label's rules about it, caused the legal teams of each record company to grow grey hairs._

_"You know that this causes issues with copyrights. We've explained that to you both multiple times now." I gave Nomura a sad smile as I grabbed the sheet music the two of us were working on before turning my attention back to her._

_"I'm sorry, Nomura, but I was having an issue with the key progression and there is only one person I knew off the top of my head that would do it exactly how I wanted." I held out the papers toward her. "Here, if you want to look at them." She took them slowly before flipping through the pages while she tapped her foot to the beat that the measures made for her. She looked between us for a second before handing them back to me._

_"You two are lucky you're talented. If it weren't for that and how well you two are liked, the companies would have cut ties as soon as you two started sneaking around like this." Douxie leaned on my shoulder with his elbow as he used his left hand to tap on my chest once._

_"I told you she would like it." I chuckled at the Englishmen as I shook my head lightly at him while Nomura walked away from us. "That or my charm worked." I felt a laugh come from me as I dropped my shoulder from under his weight, causing the older man to stumble a little._

_"Totally. Your English charm has always worked in your favor."_

_"You act like that's a bad thing!"_

_"It can be at times."_

"It'll be great to see him again." I smiled as I put the photo back on the higher part of my desk. "It's been what? A year since we saw him face to face."

 _"Oh definitely."_ I switched the phone to my opposite side of my face as Toby's laugh could be heard along the way. _"Do you remember when you hated him?"_ I sighed as I ran a hand down the front of my face.

_"C-Bomb, is it? Consider me blown away, 'cause you are nuclear." I felt myself internally groan as I crossed my arms over my chest even though the taller boy's comment pulled a laugh from the girl before him. I felt my chest tighten as I saw the smile on Claire's lips while I swallowed hard at the scene before me._

Really? A line like that gets her to smile? What kind of fuckery is this shit? If it was truly that easy, then I would have made a move ages ago.

_I instantly tried to push down the ugly jealous feeling that was swelling in my stomach as the taller teen spoke once more. "My name is Douxie. I'm putting posters around to promote the battle of the bands being hosted here. Even though my band is going to kill it, we're trying to get as many people to join as possible."_

_"Oh! I've heard of it through a friend of mine. She's actually been trying to get me and another friend of mine to join. But to be honest, I'm a terrible musician." She turned toward me and placed a hand on my shoulder with a wide smile. "But Jim here is amazing at it." I felt my face flush slightly at the compliment as she looked back towards Douxie. "If anyone is worth talking into it, it's him. Trust me, when I heard about it I instantly tried getting him to sign up." Douxie pulled his attention away from Claire and crossed his arms over his chest with a large grin appearing on his face._

_"So you're a musician?"_

_"Yeah. I'm not any good at it though." I scratched the back of my neck lightly as I felt Claire's hand squeeze lightly on my shoulder. I didn't have to look over to her to know she was the slightest amount of pissed at my statement._

_"By the look on the lady Claire's face, it seems that's an understatement." He laughed lightly at himself as he unfolded his arms to take a poster out of his left hand and held it out to me. "I wanna see what you got. Maybe you can have my band and I have a run for our money." I felt a smirk appear on my face as I took the poster from him with ease._

_"If I decide to, it'll be more than just a run for your money."_

_"Prove it, mate."_

_After a little bit of time after knowing Douxie and performing with as well as against him within the year that followed, Douxie ended up pulling me away from the small group of friends we created after he had joined us consistently. He placed an arm over my shoulders as he walked into my back yard while the cool night air blew gently against us._

_"So, when are you gonna tell the lady you're into her?" I looked over to Douxie with wide eyes which only caused the guitarist to burst out laughing at my reaction. "Do you think I'm blind? I saw the way you wanted to slaughter me with your eyes when we first met." I sighed as I decided to take the moment to sit down on the back porch steps while he joined me almost instantly. "How long have you liked her?"_

_"I've liked her since we were fifteen."_

_"But how long have you been like a silent sided Romeo to our little Juliet?"_

_"Seventeen."_

_"Oh you've been stuck for a while now haven't you?" I laughed a little at that as I placed my elbows on my knees while looking over to the dark clothed college student._

_"Wait, why are you asking me this? Aren't you into Claire too?" He leaned back onto his hands as he laid his legs straight before him._

_"I thought she was cute, I'm not going to lie. But after seeing the way you looked at her, I dropped the ideas just as soon as I thought of it. I personally believe if someone is going to date a person seriously, it would be someone that looks at her like the world doesn't matter. I know that wasn't me." He leaned forward and knocked me in the shoulder lightly with his fist. "But it sure as hell was you, my friend." I shook my head lightly as I looked out before us._

_"Is it weird that I've been hiding it for so long?"_

_"Personally, I would have thrown a spanner in the works by now." I flashed the Englishmen a confused look as he just chuckled lightly. "What I mean is that I would have screwed it up by now if I was you, but I would do the same if I was in your shoes. A female best friend that knows you better than anything and doesn't expect anything more or less from you than that? That's a rare gift within this world."_

_"Oh don't I know that."_

_"But it's obvious it's eating at ya. It's quite a blinder you have to pull here, but I know you two care for each other a tad too much to let anything ruin it. It's up to you if you want to say anything though. I won't tell you to pursue anything or any of the likes. But take all the time you desire. I know for sure as hell she won't be going anywhere without you." I smiled at that as I looked over to the punk with a soft smile._

_"Thanks, Douxie." He grasped my shoulder and shook it a little with a small smile of his own._

_"You're like a little brother to me, Jim. If you ever need to speak about anything, let me know. I've got your back."_

_"Same goes to you, Doux."_

_"Even when my cheeky arse gets on your last nerves?"_

_"Yes, even when your cheeky ass gets on my last nerves."_

_"Then we're on the same page then."_

"It really has been four years since we met him, huh?" This caused both of us to laugh lightly as I glanced down at the time on the lower right-hand side of my computer screen. "I shouldn't keep you any longer. Darci and you have a date tonight, right?"

 _"Yep! It'll be the first in a little while since both of us have been either away from home or busy with projects, so it'll be good to have some alone time with her again."_ I smiled at the pure love that came out of Toby's voice as he spoke about his long term girlfriend.

"Well, just don't have too much fun. Remember the last time you went a little overboard with one of your guys' dates?"

_"That was one time and was a year ago. That reminds me, I still owe you for picking us up at three in the morning."_

"You know I would do it all again without hesitation."

 _"And you know I would do the same if need be."_ There was a small silence between us as I could tell my best friend was smiling on the other line. _"Well, I should go get ready. She'll be home in like twenty minutes."_

"Alright. Have fun, Tobes."

 _"Thanks, Jim. Have a good night, buddy."_ With that, our call ended. I leaned back in my chair as I decided to text Douxie due to the feeling of guilt that randomly filled my chest when I realized I haven't checked up on him since he went off on tour in Europe. Almost instantly after I asked him how he was doing, the Brit sent back a reply.

_THE SONG BOY LIVES_

I chuckled at his use of the shocked emoji as a notification tone came out of my computer. I looked up and saw that it was a reply from Claire to the song.

_Ngl, this made me cry. You don't know how much I love this. Your best song yet._

I felt myself smile widely as my mind fluttered back to what Douxie said that night on the back porch as I texted back said Brit with ease.

_Hey Doux? You were right all those years ago._

_Watchu mean, Jim?_

_It's been hard. Dancing around my emotions with Claire._

I glanced back up, seeing Claire's reaction to the song before sending off another text to our mutual friend.

_But I think I'm willing to finally tell her._


	5. Why

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies! It's been a little bit since I updated this so here's one! It's on the shorter side, but it's an update nonetheless. :)
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy it! Much love!

"So what's your big plan, Skinny Legs?" Douxie sipped his coffee with a large smirk upon his face as I gave him an annoyed look.

"Really? That old nickname? I don't even _have_ skinny legs anymore."

"Doesn't mean you didn't earn it, mate." I grumbled a little as I took a sip out of my own coffee as I glanced around the cafe. Douxie was determined on the fact that if we were going to hang out when he came back from England, he wanted it to start at our old stomping grounds. Though it felt as if each of us from our little Reckless Club gang in high school changed so much after we each left, the town itself stayed the same. The same old streets with the same faces walking around and about the same stores. It was quiet and honestly, I enjoyed every second of it sitting there with Douxie in front of the old cafe he worked at in high school. I looked out over the scenery with a smile on my face as I let out a content sigh.

"You know, I thought I would never come back to Arcadia Oaks. But here I am. Actually calm instead of bored in it's relaxing scenery."

"Oh, I feel ya. I swore I would run as far as my leg could take me once I left my home town and I thought I was going to treat this place the same." The punk took another sip out of his coffee before shooting me a toothy grin. "But here we are, my friend. I think it's that fact we're so used to the endless loop of the music industry."

"Speaking of the industry, my plan."

"Oh yes! Your plan to ask out your Juliet." I chuckled as I flashed memories of the first and last play I had ever done in high school. Claire was able to talk me into auditioning for the very last play of our high school career and I had a lot of fun being the Romeo to her Juliet. Though the school had us cut all the kissing scenes out due to "public indecency", it was worth every hour I put into memorizing lines. "What does it have to do with the album?"

"Well, this might come off as either the most simp thing I have ever said or as shocking to you but,"

"But?"

"Every song I've ever written has been about Claire and this album proves it." Douxie gave me a shocked look as he placed his cup down onto the table. He leaned his elbows onto the edge as he brought his face slightly closer to whisper across the table.

"Every song? Even the ones you helped me with?"

"Yup."

"She?"

"Yup."

"Talk Fast?"

"About our first ride on my old Vespa."

"Empty wallets?"

"About how I couldn't take her on expensive dates like her boyfriend at the time could, but I would spend every moment I could with her if she would let me."

"How about Song On Fire? The song you helped me write on my latest album."

"Dude. The first two lines said 'The first words that come out and I can see this song will be about you'. Who else would I be writing about?"

"I don't know! Your mother?"

"Yeah, I would totally tell my mom that it's 'Impossible describing love' and that 'There doesn't ever have to be disaster' with what we have." Douxie slumped a little as he let out a sigh.

"I guess you got me there, mate. How did I not notice? I always knew your words came from your heart, but only ever about her? Are you sure?" I placed the coffee cup on the table as I leaned my weight onto the table like he was.

"My first _ever_ song was about her eyes, Doux. Before that, it was just shitty poetry I wrote when I felt like a burden to my mother or got lost in all my emotions. Ever since Claire came along though, they were only ever about her. All my actual songs are about her in some way. About how she makes me feel, think, or act. Everything."

"And this album is the prime example." I nodded my head before continuing.

"The record wanted something from the heart. A whole album of me putting my emotion into it. Something to go with the new emotional artist trend on the Sirius XM stations." I reached up and rubbed the back of my neck with my right hand as I went on. "Who else to write about other than her? She's been the drive behind everything else in my life so far."

"Does she know?" I swallowed dryly as I let out a nervous chuckle.

"Nope. She's only listened to one of the fourteen songs. I don't even think I told her how many are being released onto this."

"Fourteen songs? All about Claire?" Douxie chuckled a little as he leaned back into his chair. "You're one hell of a mess for her, aren't you?" I chuckled in reply as he then spoke once more. "So the album plus the music video you two are working on soon together will hopefully lead to you confessing?"

"I want her to know it's all about her. I want her to _see_ and _hear_ how much she means to me." I sat back in my chair as I gave him a half-smile. "But I'm going to need your help."

"You've got my aid whatever it may be, my friend. I've been hoping you would crack at some point anyway."

"Perfect! Do you know a good music video correlator then? I might not be able to pick the director, but I want to have a say in what kind of story the video we'll be doing." A large smirk appeared on the rockstar's face as he pulled out his phone from his jacket.

"Actually, I might just know the perfect woman for the job."

* * *

"How are you feeling?" I flashed a large smile toward Claire as I stretched my arms above my head. Make-up and costume artists were running around frantically behind the scenes of our music video shoot as the director the record company chose were talking to her camera crew. A familiar pink-haired woman with a headset on looking over the scene script I knew all too well that she wrote herself was beside them as my mind went into a recent memory.

_"Zoe, Jim. Jim, Zoe." The pink haired woman gave me a large smirk as she shook my hand._

_"Nice to meet to meet you, Skinny Legs." I groaned as she and Douxie shared a laugh at my agony._

_"Really? Are you trying to make that a thing again?"_

_"Oh, grow up. We all have childhood nicknames we hate."_

_"Whatever you say, Hisirdoux." He pointed a finger at me as his voice grew annoyed rather quickly._

_"That was a low blow, mate. Low blow." He sighed for a second before bringing his attention toward the woman beside him. "Anyway, Zoe here is the best when it comes to your sticky situation. She can write a scene script within hours and have it become a hit with fans all over the world!" Zoe nudged Douxie his ribs as she gave a smirk toward her companion._

_"Don't put the standards too high for me. I do enjoy the compliments though." She brought her attention to me as she gave me an easy smile. "I can definitely get you a music script that will fit the song you sent me to listen to and since I already work for your label, it won't be too hard to get onto the team for your video. Especially as Douxie said, I'm one of the best in the business. I doubt they would let it fall into anyone else's hands anyway. Not a project this major." I gave her a smile as I let the last thing she said float off into the back of my mind._

_"Thank you. You have no clue how much this means to me."_

_"Don't sweat it. I owe Douxie one anyway."_

"Nervous." I brought myself back into reality as brought my arms back down to my sides. "Reminds me of our old play days." Claire gave me a large smile.

"Oh, those were the days. Remember how you couldn't even say Ethiope?"

"Hey, I was doing pretty good for a guy that never read Shakespeare aloud before. Honestly, though. I thought it was pronounced Ethiopa." She giggled at my response as I felt my heart skip a beat at the sound.

_God, that laugh. Just as angelic as when I first heard it. And that gleeful look in her eyes. I swear I could look into them for centuries if I was allowed._

"Do you have any idea what theme this video is going to be? They never gave Darci a synopsis or anything." I gave a small shrug as I kept a small smile on my lips.

"They never let me in on it. They always just say they have someone write a scene script based on the lyrics to the song and I'll get to see what it turns out to be when we shoot the video. Nothing more, nothing less." Claire deflated a little at that though.

_At least I'm not really lying. Zoe was insistent on the fact that she was going to stick to the normal rules within her contract with the company. Meaning, she wasn't allowed to tell me what pieces the record wanted and what was going to happen. But she told me that she stuck to the lyrics and made it personal to what she knew of Claire and me._

_Kind of wish she would have told me though. I'm getting anxious myself just thinking about it._

"Bummer. Here I thought I could get into character early." I chuckled lightly at her as I slipped my hands into my jeans pockets. I didn't mind the costume outfits we were given. I was just in my normal blue fake leather varsity jacket, a pair of black jeans, some black and white converses, and a white shirt. Claire was in a waist cut black leather jacket, a skull shirt that eerily reminded me of her old Hamlet sweater, and a pair of black ripped up skinny jeans. Her old combat boots being the most familiar to her normal outfits.

"Don't worry. I think you'll be fine." I gave a lopsided smile to her as I rolled my shoulders back slightly. "You never really needed to work hard to be a good actress anyway. What makes this any different?" Without skipping a beat, she looked up to me with a soft smile and an even softer look in her eyes as she replied.

"I know much much this means to you." I felt as if I forgot how to breathe for a second before she pulled her eyes away from me and looked around the studio we were in. "Each song you write is like seeing a piece of who you are and if this is truly based on your lyrics, I don't want to belittle them or get it wrong. Especially since this one seems so important to you." I gave a dopey grin that only reminded me of the lovesick smiles I would give to her when we were in high school together.

_I wrote Why when Mary told me Claire had feelings for me after landing my contract with the label. It described all the pain I had from us playing this dangerous game of hurting each other. About us dancing about our emotions and thinking it would never catch up to us. It detailed how no other girl could compare to the Latina and it didn't matter how hard I tried, I would never get over her. That I didn't really want to either._

"Okay! Is everybody ready?!" I looked over toward the director and nodded my head along with Claire. "Then let's get final looks and set you two up in your places." I gave a smile toward Claire as I started making my way toward the heart of the makeshift stage.

"Ready, Nuñez?"

"Always, Lake."

* * *

I looked toward the camera with an anxious flutter in my chest as I tried my best to calm my nerves.

_You've got this, Lake. Imagine it's like any other music video. Imagine it's just you and Claire acting like little kids again._

The video was based on the idea of Claire appearing and disappearing around my at multiple times throughout the song. She'll toy with me here and there while the ending will be with her sitting beside me as I sing toward her.

_Oh, and the kiss that I didn't think would be added to all of this. But yeah. That too._

I swallowed hard as I tried my best to calm the butterflies in my stomach.

"Ready, Jim?" I gave a reassuring smile toward the director and a simple nod while I knew I was an anxious wreck the inside. "Perfect! Lights, camera!" He pointed his finger toward me as I sat there. The music began to play as I started to sing.

"I know a girl, she's like a curse. We want each other, no one will break first. So many nights, trying to find someone new. They don't mean nothing compared to her, and I know." I felt a hand graze itself across my shoulders as I knew it was Claire who walking behind me. "When people ask about us, now, we just brush it off. I don't know why we act like it means nothing at all. I wish that I could tell you that you're all that I want, yeah." I looked after her as I knew she was exiting out of the camera's few. "I pretend that I'm not ready. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves?" I was sure to muster as much emotion in my voice as I continued to sing while Claire reappeared within the frame. But once she appeared, I knew I was supposed to look at her just yet, so I brought my attention back to the camera. "And you say hi like you just met me. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves?" I felt her rub her hands onto my shoulders as I reached up and touched her hands as gently as I could before she slipped away onto the other side of the camera this time. I let my hands stay there as if I was still longing for her touch there.

_Which honestly, I was._

"Why can't we just get over ourselves?" My voice was a lot softer at this point as I shook my head slightly to give the exact emotion I wanted to display for the audience. A few guitar licks later, I started to sing again. "When I hear you sing, it gets hard to breathe. Can't help but think every song's about me." I watched as Claire came up from the center this time and dragged her hand across my arm which left chills on my skin despite the two layers of clothing I had on. "And every line, every word that I write. You are the muse in the back of my mind, oh." I looked over toward her where she left the camera's view once more as I continued. "Don't want to ask about it 'cause you might brush it off. I'm afraid you think that it means nothing at all. I don't know why I won't admit that you're all I want." This time as I sang the last line of the bridge, I didn't tear my eyes away from her before she could see the pure emotion I hoped was showing within my eyes.

_Please understand you're the one I'm singing about, Claire. Please know these words are for you._

I brought my eyes back to the camera as I continued to sing while Claire repeated the motions from the chorus once more. "I pretend that I'm not ready. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves? And you say hi like you just met me. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves?" This time as the guitar went on, instead of leaving, Claire brought her head on top of mine as she stood behind me. I placed my hands on her forearms that wrapped themselves gently around my collarbones as I went on to sing the last bit of the chorus. "I pretend that I'm not ready. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves? And you say hi like you just met me. Why do we put each other through hell? Why can't we just get over ourselves?" She moved as I sang the last line so she could sit next to me and I gave her my full attention as she did so. I almost forgot to sing the last lines as I got lost in her eyes.

"I know a girl, she's like a curse. We want each other, no one will break first." I didn't even remember to lean in but as I felt our foreheads meet, it seemed my body had a mind of its own. "So many nights, trying to find someone new." I felt a wide smile appear on my face as I reached up to cup her right cheek with my left hand. "They don't mean nothing compared to you." As the last piano chord rang out, I allowed my eyes to shutter close as I let my body continue out the action on instinct. When our lips touched, I felt as if fireworks were setting themselves off within my head. I nearly lost myself in the softness that was her lips. Then the feeling of her hand gripping the left side of my shirt as if it was a lifeline told me enough that she felt something as well.

_Well, besides the fact that she was kissing me back._

"And cut!" We pulled back from each other suddenly as I slowly started to come down from my high and back down to reality. I almost forgot it was all for a music video. "Wonderful work, you two! All in one take and everything!" I flashed the director a smile before bringing my eyes back to Claire. I scanned her eyes for a moment and I saw a lot of emotions swirling within them. But I could tell by the light upturned corners of her lips that they weren't anything to be heavily worried about.

"Are you okay?" I whispered out to her as if I was afraid of ruining the small moment between us.

"More than okay." I felt a blush appear on my face as I saw a smile appear slowly on hers. That was until she got a call notification from her phone. She pulled it out of her jacket before giving me an apologetic look. "Forgot I had this in here. At least it didn't go off during the video. Sorry, I gotta go take this."

"Yeah. Of course. Don't let me keep you." She placed a hand on my shoulder for a second as she got up to stand.

"But can we talk later?"

"Yeah. Totally. Text me when you're available." She flashed me a happy smile before turning away to answer her call.

"Claire speaking." I watched her as she walked away toward a quieter area of the studio as I let out a soft sigh.

_I always dreamed about what it would feel to kiss Claire and now that I have, I can happily say it lived up to my expectations._

I reached a hand up to my lips as I still had the ghost feeling of hers against mine.

 _It was soft and warm and_ _mutually reciprocated. Don't forget that they were hers. I could die a happy man right now and I would be okay with that, honestly._

"Everything going according to your little plan, Skinny Legs?" I flashed Zoe a smile as she came near. Even the old high school nickname couldn't bring me down from the utter bliss I felt within that moment.

"Everything is perfect. I wasn't thinking we would kiss, but thank you."

"Actually, I didn't put that in there." I gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean? Then who did?"

"The label did."


	6. Don't Tempt Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FUCKING OFFICIAL MY KIDS ARE TOGETHER. FUCKING PRAISE JESUS THIS TOOK A LITTLE BIT.
> 
> Honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted this to happen just yet or not, but with what I have planned next, I need this shit to be cemented and they deserve it. Truthfully. I toy with the whole "unrequited love and pinning" bullshit with these characters enough. They deserve to be happy in one of my stories.
> 
> Anyway! I hope y'all enjoy it and let me know what you think! Sorry, this author's note isn't like my normal ones. It's legit 3 AM and I felt like writing soooo I did this instead of sleeping.

I anxiously looked down at my phone as I checked the time once more.

_You need to stop panicking, Lake. It's just Claire. You've hung out with her multiple times since you were sophomores. This can't be that bad._

_Besides the fact that you'll be talking about a kiss._

_Specifically, one that you shared to a love song._

_Even more specifically, one that you wrote for her._

I sighed before I slipped my phone back into my jeans pocket so I could flop down onto my couch. The guitar that was next to me almost fell over, but I fixed it to stand upright before I put my head into my hands.

_I'm a fucking goner._

I groaned as Toby's voice rang through my head.

_"Dude. You just need to relax. Forget the idea that the label wanted the kiss to happen and just be happy that it did. Okay? When she comes over to your house later to talk it over, keep your cool. Nothing is changing between you two. You guys are still Jim and Claire. High school best friends that care more about each other more than anything. Nothing will change that."_

_Really, huh? Because I think the fact that I might die from a heart attack might change the fact that I'm her very much alive best friend to her very much dead best friend in a matter of minutes at this point._

I ran my hands through my hair for a moment as I tried my best to take slow and steady breaths.

_Okay. Seriously. This is Claire. If she wanted to tell you to fuck off, she would tell you to your face. If she wanted nothing to do with you, she wouldn't be wanting to talk to you about it. She would ignore your text or something. Not showing up at your house soon._

My head sprung up as I heard a key enter the lock of the front door.

_Or now._

I jumped up to my feet and adjusted my red shirt before dusting the sweat off my hands onto my dark jeans. I brought my attention up toward the door as it opened slowly to show a familiar figure of purple and black as she went to shut the door behind her. She locked it with a swift flick of her wrist before she turned her attention back toward me. She looked me over for a moment as she let out a soft giggle.

"You seem as nervous as I am." I chuckled at that as I felt my anxiety roll itself off my shoulders.

"And you seem as calm as ever, actually."

"Oh, I'm a mess. Being completely honest." We laughed at each other for a moment as she made her way over toward where I was at the couch. We sat down together as I placed a hand onto the guitar that nearly fell before so that it wouldn't almost stumble again. Claire put her hands into her lap as I brought my attention back toward her completely. We stared at each other for a moment before two wide smiles ended up being shined toward one another as we started laughing together once more. "Oh, God we're a mess right now." She barely spoke through her laughter.

"I think it's the nerves."

"Oh most definitely. Do you remember how I acted before I got on stage as Lady Macbeth junior year?" I gave her another large smile with a small nod before replying to her.

"You were giggling like you were high off laughing gas for about an hour a the very least. I wasn't much better though at my first real show that same year too. Remember?"

"Oh yeah! Especially when you were starting to make bets against yourself on how soon you were going to trip on stage."

"Hey, I ended up getting twenty bucks before I ended up tripping before I even made it to the stage." We shared a soft laugh together as we stared back at one another. The silence that followed after that probably lasted about a few seconds was quickly ruined by her soft voice as she glanced down toward her hands for a moment.

"Why are we making such a big deal about this? It doesn't change who we are as people, right?" I swallowed dryly as I reached out for the guitar that was beside me.

_I guess it's better now than never._

"What if I wanted it to change something? Not us as people, but how we see each other." I brought the guitar into my lap as I brought my eyes back up toward her to see her looking back at me with curious eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how I said this latest album was something I wrote about something I care about more than anything? I know I must have said multiple times how much this one means to me."

"Yeah. You were saying that it was about something you love. But I kind of figured that what all your songs were about." She smirked for a moment as she gave a small shrug before continuing. "That or people you hated." I chuckled at that last part before giving her a lopsided smile.

"That was only once and Steve deserved it."

"I never said he didn't. Calling him a queen was perfect though. You should have seen his face. His poor fragile masculinity at the time could barely handle it." I found myself giving her another soft laugh as I brought my eyes back to meet hers once more. I bit the inside of my lip for a moment as I drummed my thumb onto the side of the oak acoustic that sat in my lap.

_Come on, Lake. You're so fucking close! Just say it._

I took a deep breath for a moment before I let what I always wanted to say flow out of me.

"What I mean is that it wasn't about something. But someone. I wrote it all for a specific person. The song we did today is one of them." I watched her eyes fill with a mix of emotions for a minute before I allowed myself to continue. "It wasn't just for anyone though."

"Then who?"

"You." I swallowed hard as I saw her eyes widen for a moment. "All of them."

"The whole album?"

"Each song." I placed my left hand onto the neck of the guitar as I brought my arm around the side to ready myself to play. "I've never been good at saying what I felt. You've of all people know that for a fact." I watched a soft smile appear on her lips as the shock seemed to fade rather quickly from her features. "But whenever I wrote, it was always so much easier. Especially when I wrote about how I felt about you." I smiled at her as I nervously glanced down toward the guitar. "There's a song I think that will put all to this into a better picture, but I think two specific parts will make it a lot more clear. I can sing it if you want." I brought my eyes back up toward her before I spoke once more, but I stopped myself. She seemed so much more relaxed. Her hands were no longer in her lap as she had them behind her as she leaned ever so slightly backward as her signature half-smile danced across her face.

_At least one of us isn't a nervous wreck now._

"When have I ever turn down an opportunity to hear you sing?" I gave her another lopsided grin as I looked down toward the fretboard as I put my hands into position before looking back up to her with the same grin on my face as I started to strum as if it was second nature to me. After a few chords, I began to sing softly toward her.

"I wonder. Why I'm so afraid of saying something wrong, I never said I was a saint. I wonder, when I cry into my hands, I'm conditioned to feel like it makes me less of a man." Instead of keeping the same tone I did as I started, I ended up allowing my voice to become softer as I continued. The warmth and gentleness I felt while looking into her hazel eyes pouring through my voice with ease. "And I wonder if someday you'll be by my side and tell me that the world will end up alright. I wonder. I wonder." I kept my eyes on hers as I changed chords for the chorus. "Right before I close my eyes. The only thing that's on my mind. Been dreamin' that you feel it too I wonder what it's like to be loved by you. Yeah." I laughed at myself a little as Claire's soft laugh joined me for a moment before I continued on to the next line. "I wonder what it's like. I wonder what it's like to be loved by you." I decided mentally to skip the guitar bridge and everything and just jump to the ending as I knew from the gleam in her eyes that she already understood everything that I wanted to say. "Right before I close my eyes. The only thing that's on my mind. Been dreamin' that you feel it too I wonder what it's like to be loved by you." I let the last note ring out from the guitar for a moment before I stifled it with my palm. I tried my best to keep my eyes on hers as I removed the guitar from my lap to lean it against the coffee table that was before us as she began to speak.

"Why didn't you-?"

"I was afraid." I gave her a sheepish smile as I reached up with my now free left hand to scratch the back of my neck. "With everything that happened to me when we were teens, I grew way too attached to the idea that if you realized that I liked you at the time that you would go running for the hills or things just wouldn't end well between us or something. You know how my brain works. Always thinking about how the worst things can happen." She giggled at me for a moment as I watched her bring herself back up into an upright position as she slipped her left hand onto my right.

"All too well, ironically. I felt the same for the longest time." I felt my eyes widen for a moment as I looked over her features to see if she was lying at all. "What? Did you think I wasn't just a nervous wreck about seven minutes ago because I was going to tell you to stuff your feelings in a bag and shove them up your ass?" I chuckled at the very, well, Claire, response from her as I intertwined our fingers together.

"It wouldn't have been the first time you have told someone to do that." She groaned for a moment as she smacked me in the shoulder with her free hand.

"You know why I told Logan to fuck off! The guy was a creep!"

"Doesn't mean I wasn't worried at one point you wouldn't have done the same to me."

"You're my best friend, Jim. If I didn't feel the same about you, I would have just told you I didn't." She looked up toward me with a gentle smile on her lips as I felt her rub small circles onto the back of my right hand with her thumb. "So how long did you feel this way? I want to know if I was the first to fall or not."

"Honestly, I think it all started when I met you." She gave a small laugh as she shook her head for a moment.

"You sappy mother fucker." I laughed wholeheartedly at her reply before leaning against the couch cushion that was on my right side.

"I might be a sappy mother fucker, but I'm your sappy mother fucker."

"You got that damn right." She poked me in the chest with her right index finger as I felt the cushion shift as she got closer to me. "You're stuck with me more now than ever. I hope you know that." I gave her a sweet smile as I glanced down at our still connected hands for a moment. It wasn't till now that I realized how close we were. The idea of how easy it would be to just wrap her into my arms was tempting as I brought my eyes back up toward her with the same smile dancing on my lips.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I watched her features for a moment as I saw her relish in my words for a moment. It was as if she had been waiting to hear those words for even longer than I could ever imagine as I left her right-hand cup the left side of my face which only reminded me of earlier today when I did the same gesture to her for the music video. Her face was now mere inches away as I glanced down for a second to look down to the lips that I had always dreamed about having against mine one day before looking back up to the eyes that always kept me hypnotized since I was only sixteen.

"I always wanted to tell you how I felt but I always thought about that night when Toby called me from the hospital." I felt her hand slip itself into the back of my hair as she seemed to use it as a coping mechanism for herself for once instead of for me. "I thought I lost you that night." Her fingers raked through my short hair as her nails dragged gently against my scalp as she continued. "Seeing you in that white room with all though cords and bandages caused my heart to break in ways I never thought I would ever feel, Jim." I saw tears welling up in her eyes as I instinctively reached up with my free hand to wipe one that fell from her eyes off her right cheek with my thumb as she still spoke gently toward me. "I was just so worried at just the thought of losing you that I just never spoke. It didn't matter how many times you told me I was the most confident girl you knew in high school. I was a mess when it came to you."

"You'll never lose me." I took my hand off of hers as I placed it onto her left cheek as I did during the music video shoot. "Not if I have anything to do about it." I saw a soft smile break out onto her lips as she looked at me like I was something worthy of being within her gaze. Like I was some kind of art piece worthy of being looked over by her chocolate eyes.

"Good. I don't think I'll ever be myself if I didn't have you in my life, Jim." The space between us dwindled even more as Claire whispered out her words toward me as all I could do was I smile at her as I rubbed her cheekbones gently with my thumbs.

"Me neither, Claire." Those were the last words spoken between us before we met in the middle of the small few inch difference between us to capture each other's lips with ease. I closed my eyes almost instantly as I felt the familiar feel of fireworks going off within my mind as goosebumps covered my skin. I felt her other hand make its way into the back of my hair as her fingers then buried themselves into my hair with ease to deepen the kiss. I dropped my hands from her face so I could rest them gently onto her waist as I pulled her closer. As the single kiss started to turn into plenty, I started to lose my train of thought as I lost myself in the sensation that was having her at arms reach, within my hands, and against my lips. It was everything I could ever want. Everything I ever dreamed of all becoming a reality as I started to feel as if I need to check if I was truly dreaming.

_But God, if this was a dream, I never want to wake up._

My phone started to ring from my jeans pocket but it seemed that neither of us seemed to care enough to stop though as we just continued to recapture each other's lips. It was as if we were trying to make up for the years that were obvious that both of us were waiting for this moment to happen. She pulled back for a second to whisper to me for a moment as she made her hatred for the phone evident.

"Whoever the fuck it is, they can wait." I chuckled as all I did was lean back into the couch cushion and pull close once more.

"Voicemail is a thing for a reason." She smiled at me before leaning forward and capturing my lips once more. I felt her smile against my lips and I couldn't help but do the same. The happiness that was dancing within my system was intoxicating as I lifted her up by her waist and placed her into my lap. This caused a giggle to escape her as she pulled back for a moment.

"I forget sometimes that you've got some muscle on those skinny limbs of yours."

"I swear if you call me Skinny Legs like Douxie still does, you won't be getting kisses anytime soon."

"So there's gonna be more." She gave me a sweet smile as she placed her arms around my neck. "Good. Because if you said no after that I was going to lose my shit." I rubbed small circles into her sides as I gave her a smile in return.

"How could I ever say no? I couldn't even tell you no in high school."

"Oh, I know. I hope you understand I honestly used that to my advantage at times."

"Like the time you talked me into going to that Papa Skull concert with you in junior year?" She giggled once more at the memory as I couldn't blame her at that. I was never one for rock concerts. The mosh pits specifically always made me nervous enough and the fact that the screeching of the guitars made the acoustic musician within me to start grinding his teeth. But Claire loved them so I decided that it was worth giving one live rock concert a try.

_Three hours gave me exactly three things. A punch to the face, some ringing in my ears, but also a smiling Latina to ride home with and I didn't have a single care for the other two gifts the experience gave me._

My phone started ringing once more and I rolled my eyes at the sound of it.

"Seems whoever it wanted to speak to you more than we thought." I chuckled at her as I slipped my hand into my jeans pocket to pull the little annoyance out. I looked down toward the caller ID to see a familiar name flashing onto the screen. I gave it a curious look as I brought my attention back toward Claire. "Are you okay? Who is it?"

"Nomura."

"Really? The hell did you do?" I gave her a shrug as I pressed the answer button and brought it to my ear.

"Hi, Nomura. How are you?"

_"I would love to have a bit of our normal chit chat, Little Gynt, but we need to speak business."_

"Sure. What's up? Is something wrong?"

_"Not wrong, but needs to be done. We need the rest of the songs recorded for the album. We have approximately half of the fourteen."_

"Oh. That's it? You just need the rest?"

 _"Well, for me at the very least. You might get something from someone else soon, but for me, that's my only issue. I needed them earlier, but as long as you get them to me to copyright and edit before Friday, we'll be fine."_ I gave Claire a reassuring smile as the worried look suddenly faded from her lips.

"You got it. I can send them tomorrow if that's okay with you?"

_"Whatever works, Little Gynt. See you around."_

"Have a nice night, Nomura." With that, the call ended and I tossed the phone onto the cushion that Claire was sitting on before. "At least that wasn't anything to be worried about."

"What did she want?" I placed my hand back onto Claire's waist as I gave her a wide smile.

"Just the rest of the recording for the album. I have them finished, I just haven't bothered giving it to them yet."

"Procrastination? You would never." I chuckled toward her as I noted the pure sarcasm in her voice.

"Only the best delays from a Lake."

"Oh, I know." I rolled my eyes at her but my smile kept itself onto my lips.

"If this was about how long it took me to say anything about this," I brought a hand up to gesture between us as I continued. "You're also to blame."

"Hey! I had a valid reason."

"So didn't I, Nuñez."

"And what was that?"

"I thought I was going to lose you." She just laughed a little at that as placed her hands onto my shoulders.

"Because you thought I was going to stop being your friend all because you had a crush on me? Jim, if that was true, I would have ran when I noticed the way you used to look at me as if I was the only girl in the room even when you had a goddamn date." I gave her a shrug and a wide smile as I decided to rub circles into her sides once more.

"Blame it on the anxiety and also, could you blame me? You were always the most beautiful person in the room and no one else could ever compare." She leaned forward for a second and gave me a quick kiss before getting out of my lap and onto her feet.

"How about we continue talking about this over a drink, huh?" I gave her a smirk as she started making her way toward the kitchen.

"Talking or~." I drew out the 'or' with a large smile as I started to follow her.

"Don't tempt me, Lake." She shot a wink over her shoulder as we entered the kitchen together.

"I wouldn't want anything else, Nuñez."

* * *

I smiled as I felt her soft even breaths tickled my neck as she slept gently into my side. The Netflix 'Are you still watching?' screen bright and on full display as I rubbed gentle circles into the back of Claire's nightshirt. I couldn't help but give a content sigh as I placed my head on top of hers.

_After all this time. After all these years. After all the anxious moments. I can now say that the girl I've loved since I was seventeen was now my girlfriend. I felt like I needed to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming._

I chuckled at myself as the last thought rang through my head. I brought my hand up to toy with the ends of Claire's hair as a memory from before we decided to sit down and finish The Last Airbender from the last time we hung out at my house together.

_"So."_

_"So." I chuckled at her as she sipped out of her water bottle before giving me a half-hearted annoyed look._

_"What are we at this point? Sorry if it's kind of sudden, but like, I just want to know."_

_"We can be whatever you want us to be. I'm just happy that we're_ something _, you know?"_

_"Another reason why I always liked you." She gave me a soft smile before leaning up to give me a quick kiss on my right cheek. "But like, people are going to ask. Especially our fans." I gave a shrug and a lopsided grin before I took a quick swig from my own water bottle._

_"Honestly, whatever you want to answer, we can be."_

_"So if I want to straight-up jump to call you my boyfriend, you wouldn't have a problem with it?"_

_"I would jump for fucking joy." I smiled as she giggled at my reaction._

_"Perfect then."_

I smiled at the memory as she adjusted herself in her sleep so she could wrap her arm around my middle while she buried her face into my neck which caused me to bring my head up from on top of hers. This caused me to laugh gently as her hair tickled the side of my face. I wrapped my arms around her instinctively as she murmured a little in her sleep. I found myself closing my eyes contently as I buried my face into her hair after she settled herself once more.

_I may not have been able to sleep well since the accident, but one thing was always for sure when I did._

I smiled a little as I felt the urge to sleep overcome me slowly as my last thought danced around in my head.

_It was always Claire's presence that kept the demons away._


	7. Sickeningly Sweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my Fluff Show. My name is Ashley I will be your waitress today. How do you like your fluff?
> 
> Well, actually. You don't get to decide because I like mine with a side of humor and that is what I have presented you with for today! I really hope you guys enjoy this. I have a few ideas on what I want to do with this universe I created so I hope you guys stick with me through all of it!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and have a wonderful night, my friends! Much love!

"So. You're finally together?" I gave my fellow musician a wide smile as we entered the record label building together.

"Yup!" The Brit gave my back a hearty slap that nearly called me to lurch forward while the guitarist gave a small laugh as he pulled me into his side.

"That's wonderful! It's a little weird since I both see you two as my little siblings and it kind of feels like you're messing around with my sister, but I'm happy for you. You two have been pinning for a little too long in my opinion." I rolled my eyes at his remark as he continued. "What? Ask anyone and they will agree."

"Whatever, Doux. What are you doing here anyway? Didn't Merlin want to speak to you at _your_ label?"

"Mystic Music Records is just down the road and my meeting with my old man is in an hour. So, for now, I'm working on a request from an old friend. The same one I introduced you to." He gave me a lopsided smile before giving a wave toward the normal front desk worker, Laura. "Good morning, love!"

"Good morning, Douxie. You as well, Jim." I gave her a smile and a single nod as we walked past her.

"Good morning, Laura." We continued onto the elevators together as Douxie carried on our conversation.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be still daydreaming off in La La Land?" I rolled my eyes at his remark as I pressed the call button for the elevator.

"One, fuck off. Two, Nomura said she needed the rest of my songs for the album, but I couldn't get the company's dropbox system to work so," I went into my pocket and pulled out a small flash drive to showcase itself to the guitarist. "Here I am."

"You didn't give them the rest of the album just yet and you _weren't_ welcomed to the tune of In the Hall of the Mountain King? I believe you are the luckiest man alive, my dear friend." We entered the elevator as I gave my old friend a large smile.

"As of last night, I am."

"Oh you are her bitch, aren't ya?"

"Honestly, whatever makes her happy."

"So you would be her bitch?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely." The elevator doors opened onto our designated floor only for both of us to look up toward the man on the other side with wide eyes.

"No shit." I heard the Englishmen mutter under his breath as I only swallowed dryly in return. Before us was one of the biggest names in music. The leading man from the rock band The Hunters. Owner and talent leader of Trollmarket Records. The legendary singer nicknamed the Trollhunter for his warrior-like actions and morals.

"Kanjigar Tarigar." The tall tan man gave the two of us a wide smile

"Hello, boys." He looked between us before pointing a finger toward Douxie for a second. "You're Douxie Casperan. Guitarist and lead singer of Ash Dispersal Pattern. Correct?"

"Yes, sir!" Kanjigar chuckled at this before pointing his finger toward me.

"And you're James Lake Junior. Guitarist, songwriter, and probably one of the few pop singers I can withstand listening to." I gave him a nervous smile as the idea of _Kanjigar fucking Tarigar_ listens to _my_ music sunk into my system.

"Wonderful to meet you, sir."

"Nice to meet you as well, Jim. You too, Casperan."

"Not to be rude, Kanjigar, sir. But what are you doing here?"

"I was speaking to Strickler on certain musicians we have been fighting on. The lowballing bastard wasn't giving the kids what they deserve." He gave both of us a wink as walked into the elevator that we exited for him. "If you two ever decide you want a new label, let me know. I know sure as hell that Strickler isn't giving you," He pointed toward me specifically. "What you truly need." With that, the elevator doors closed and the sight of the ex-singer left us as Douxie and I still stood there like two stunned fanboys meeting their idol for the first time.

_Well, for one of us, it's true._

"DID YOU HEAR THAT!?"

"Yes, Douxie."

"HE BASICALLY JUST OFFERED US FUCKING CONTRACTS!"

"Yes, Douxie."

"KANJIGAR THE GOD DAMN COURAGEOUS! The Trollhunter, Jim. The _Trollhunter_."

"You need to chill, Doux. What would your dad say if you were this happy to get an offer from an opposing record label?"

"He would slap me on my back in congratulations and then across my face for even thinking about leaving the company." I chuckled at this as we turned down the hallway.

"Hisirdoux! This company this a _family_ company. Who are you to believe I would let some twit take you away from me?" I mimicked the old man's voice as I raised a finger in the air in a mocking way. All of this caused the man beside me to nearly bust out laughing as he nudged me with his elbow.

"You forgot about the whole 'but master I' stuff he does to me."

"Why do you call your dad master again?"

"He was raised with the old British ideals. You give your parents respect and they embarrass you in return. That's British parenting for ya though."

"Sounds like hell."

"Oh most definitely, my friend."

"Boys." We turned our heads before us to see Nomura standing before us with the smallest smile on her face. I shot her a toothy grin as Douxie gave her a simple wave.

"Morning Nomura."

"Please tell me the two of you are not here to record more music together. You both remember how difficult it is for me to get Strickler and Merlin to even _talk_ to each other."

"No worries, Nomura. We just arrived at the same time is all. I was actually coming here to give you this." I pulled out the flash drive from my jacket pocket and handed it to her. "The dropbox system wasn't working for me, so I figured I would come here and give you the album personally." She took the flash drive with a sweet smile before slipping it into her blazer pocket.

"Wonderful. Thank you, Jim."

"No problem."

"Doesn't explain why you're here, Casperan." She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over toward Douxie with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm here to see Zoe."

"Oh, your little girlfriend? Makes sense." A large smirk came across the woman's face as she started to walk past us. "Don't distract her though. She's working on a major project at the moment. She is due for a break though." I looked over toward Douxie to see a blush taking over his face as he called after her.

"She is not my girlfriend, thank you very much." I chuckled as I gave him a teasing smile.

"Seems you want her to be though." He flashed me an annoyed look as he slipped his hands into his hoodie pockets.

"Don't get me started, Skinny-Legs."

"Hey! You tease me about Claire all the time. It's only fair I give it back to you."

"But I'm the big brother in this situation."

"So?"

"I have the right to tease the hell outta ya." I rolled my eyes jokingly at him as I turned back toward where the elevator is.

"Whatever. My business here is done so I'm going to head out."

"Alrighty. See you around, Skinny-Legs."

"I'm not that skinny anymore, God damn it."

"Doesn't mean it wasn't true, mate!" As I made my way toward the elevator and had gotten into it with ease, I felt my phone buzz within my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Claire dancing across the screen.

_C: Finished your mission?_

I smiled at the message as I leaned against the back wall of the elevator. I opened the text and sent a quick reply without a second thought.

_J: Yep. Ran into Doux. He ended up having a fanboy moment due to us running in Kanjigar Tarigar._

_C: Seems legit, honestly. Won't expect anything less from him. Should have seen him and he and I met the lead singer for Asking Alexandra. The boy lost his mind._

_J: I have literally no clue what band that is but I'm just gonna act like I do._

_C: lol Got you through being friends with two punk kids long enough. Are you free for the rest of the day?_

_J: As long as I don't get an emergency call from anyone, yeah. Why? Got something in mind?_

_C: Oh definitely. Meet me at the set? I've got probably an hour or so of filming left for today._

_J: You got it. See you there._

I smiled as she just sent a heart emoji in reply. I could tell by how quick she sent it that her usual scene break must have been cut short. That's just how Claire has always been though. Instead of not replying at all when she's off having to do something else, she would always at least send something to let me know she read my message.

_It was nice to know that nothing truly changed between us and that the new relationship we've started last night wasn't changing how we talked or acted with one another. It only proved that Toby was right all along. Nothing would change how me and Claire few each other. Looking back though, it's not like we weren't borderline flirting throughout high school anyway._

I chuckled at the thought as I made my way out of the building.

_Now that I think about it, I think it was rather obvious how we thought of each other with all the sideways glances and soft touches we would give each other. I was an oblivious little fucker to not realize it back then, but now that the knowledge is presented to me, I can see it as clear as day._

_Make me question though how the hell did she deal with my ass for that long, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially since she still wants to be my girlfriend after waiting all that time._

I felt a dopey smile appear on my face as I made my way to my motorcycle.

_Girlfriend._

_Man. It feels like a dream just thinking about it._

I put my old helmet on my head before getting onto my bike and bringing the engine to life.

_But at least now it's a dream come turn._

* * *

"I thought I wasn't allowed back here." I gave Claire a lopsided smile as she escorted me toward her trailer.

"Not really, but does it really matter at this point? It's the last day of filming. What are they going to do? Redo a whole ass film all because I had my boyfriend in my trailer _once_ within the five times I've worked with this director." I instinctively put an arm around her as we kept walking together.

"I love hearing you call me that." She laughed a little as she wrapped an arm around my lower back.

"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, Jim."

"Claire, I've been dreaming about this for about four years at the very least. Let me have this." She stopped in her tracks and reached out to grab the front of my jacket so she can pull my full attention toward her. She brought her hands up to toy with the collar of my old blue jumper jacket as she looked up toward me with a soft smile.

"I wasn't saying I wasn't enjoying it either." A smirk appeared on my face as I put my hands on her waist.

"Really now?" She hummed in reply before leaning forward and capturing my lips. It was a quick kiss, but I was a smiling fool as all she did in reply was smile up toward me as she toyed with the collar of my jacket still.

"No _fucking_ way." We snapped our heads toward the sudden voice just to see Mary standing beside us with a shocked look on her face. "No _fucking_ way! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN and girl, why didn't you tell me?" Claire just laughed softly at our friend's reaction as I just gave a nervous smile in return.

"Last night. We kind of just hung out until we both passed out afterward so I didn't bother texting anyone about it. We also didn't get to see each other since we got here so it's not like I had the time to tell you either."

"Claire Maria Nuñez, that is not a reason to not tell your best friend you got with your high school crush." I laughed at that as Claire gave Mary a half-hearted glare. I could tell by the slight tint in the Latina's face that she was slightly embarrassed by Mary's statement.

"Last I knew, Jim was my best friend."

"Not that one just hurts." She placed a hand over her heart as she walked up toward us. "But honestly, I'm really happy for you two. I'm sad I'm out twenty bucks, but I'm happy for you two." I gave her a confused look as I tilted my head slightly to the left.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Darci, Toby, Douxie, and I all had a betting pool going on when you guys were going to finally tell each other how you feel. I was sure Claire was going to confess after the premier next month since you have a track record of being too much of an anxious wreck to even sit next to her for too long." I felt an annoyed look take over my face as Claire just giggled at my side. I raised an eyebrow at Claire as she just shrugged.

"What? She's not wrong and if it wasn't for that music video shoot we did yesterday, I actually think I would have confessed to you at the premier. That is if you were able to come."

"When have I ever missed any of your premiers? I had Trevor breathing down my neck for weeks because I nearly missed a concert in New York for one."

"Which is one of the million things I like about you."

"Which is one of the million reasons you two are sickeningly sweet." Claire turned her head to stick her tongue out at Mary before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on my left cheek. "Ew, stop it. I might get Diabetes watching you two." I felt Claire wrap her arms around my middle as I just wrapped my arms around her in return.

"Stop watching then."

"HOLY-! Toby told me something happened last night between you two after he got off the phone with Jim this morning but I wasn't expecting _this_." Darci appeared by Mary's side as she had a wide smile on her face. "Seems like I won the betting pool though."

"You one?" I raised an eyebrow as I question Darci on the subject.

"Yep! I had a feeling you two were going to snap at some point. Especially when Toby said Jim was working on 'personal album'." Darci gave air quotes as she spoke. "After that, I kind of figured you were sick and tired of being lovesick over Claire's ass." I chuckled nervously at Darci's words as she was completely right on that statement.

"You're not wrong, but you didn't have to call me out like that."

"I was _right_? Damn. Here I was thinking that I was just jumping to conclusions."

"Wait, Toby _didn't_ tell you I was writing the album about Claire? Huh. Normally he would tell you even when I tell him explicitly not to." Darci smiled at this as she just looked up toward me.

"He tells me everything _unless_ it's something tied explicitly to your personal life. Unless it's something small and or embarrassing." I swallowed dryly as the woman gave me a smirk.

_Oh god. Makes me wonder what stories she has on my ass. I don't doubt that Toby's told her everything from when I nearly fainted when Claire had first kissed my cheek in high school to when I ended up having my clothes stolen and replaced with a red dress in gym class by Steve when we were sophomores._

"Remind me to never be on your bad side then. I don't want any of what he more than likely told you to ever be spoken of."

"Keep Claire happy and we won't have to ever mention any of it." Darci gave me a sweet smile as Mary laughed beside her.

"Here I thought Douxie would be the one threatening Jim's ass! Way to go, Darc."

"All he went on about this morning was that he feels a little weird about it all since he sees us as siblings, but nothing more than that." Mary gave me a shocked look.

"Huh. Here I thought he would threaten you with a bat or break your knees."

"Me too, honestly."

"Okay, I get it. Two people are willing to beat up my boyfriend if he ever hurts me, but I doubt that will ever happen so can we stop with the eerie threats?" I chuckled as I gave Claire a simple smile.

"I think you would be the first to kill me anyway if I ever fuck up in some way."

"Oh, you know it, Lake."

"They're sickeningly sweet aren't they?"

"Oh definitely. Now I understand why you guys would always make fun of me and Toby for being that way." I saw a smirk appear on Claire's lips as I knew instantly what the Latina was planning. Without a second thought, I leaned in and kissed her as Mary and Darci gave gagging noises in reply. Claire unwrapped one of her arms from around my waist as she kissed me back.

"Hey! We don't deserve that crude gesture, Nuñez!" I smiled against her lips as I knew that she was flipping her friends off as we deepened the kiss. "Okay, this is quickly becoming some kind of softcore porno so I'm just going to leave now."

"I feel that sister. Have fun you two. Not too much fun though! We can't be having Claire unable to act within the next few months. She's got another film coming." Claire and I pulled apart as we heard the two of them making their way toward their unannounced destination. I wasn't sure at first if the girl's words were affecting Claire as much as it was me, but by the bright blush dancing on her cheeks, I found out that she was just as embarrassed.

"Can we agree on not talking about what either of them just said?"

"Totally." She giggled at this as she leaned forward and placed another quick kiss on my lips. She pulled back to give me a small smirk as she unwrapped her arms from my waist to place her hands onto my cheeks.

"We can still continue this in my trailer though." I smiled at her comment which she took as my answer. She dropped her hands to grab both of mine from off her waist as she started pulling me toward her trailer.

_It might be a little too earlier to say it aloud, but god do I love this girl._

I watched as she gave me a wide smile over her shoulder as she continued pulling me along.

_I wouldn't change a god damn thing._


	8. Come With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO, MY WONDERFUL BEINGS! I was just chilling today and I instantly went "HOLY SHIT what if this happens in my Music Within Me universe? That would be cool!" and then this chapter ended up being a thing.
> 
> I hope you guys really enjoy this because I have a BIG plan for the next chapter. I know it feels like I'm speeding up a lot of things, but this is one of the stories I'm toying with on ideas and styles so I'm just going with the flow at this point and trying not to make it another slow ass slow-burn.
> 
> ANYWAY! Have a wonderful time with this and let me know what you think! Much love, everyone!

The next few weeks of being together were like some kind of daydream.

If someone was going to knock on my door a few months ago and tell me that I was going to be dating my high school crush I would have looked at them as if they were crazy. I would think they were toying with me in some way.

But what I have with Claire feels like more than just dating my high school crush. It felt like everything within the world was just a bit brighter. That all the pieces within the puzzle I called my life was starting to actually fit into place. Like everything I ever wanted was coming true. Even more than when I was called by Strickler to offer me a record deal.

_Yet it seemed a little too easy. A little too perfect._

_And when she muttered the word "parents" from her lips, I realized why._

"I knew I was forgetting something this last few weeks." I groaned as I laid my head into Claire's lap. She instantly started to rake her fingers through my head as I continued to speak. "My mom's going to kill me once she realizes how long I've kept this from her."

"If my dad doesn't get you first." I looked up toward Claire like a deer in headlights.

"Claire, I don't want to be murdered. Can we just text it to them? I think that would be fine." She just laughed in reply.

"Oh come on. You know you were the only guy my dad actually _liked_ that I showed up to the house with. Telling him we're dating will be like telling him what he's been suspecting for years now, more than likely."

"Doesn't mean he's still not going to beat the _fuck_ out of me."

"You're acting like he's got a reason. It's not like we've done anything yet." I blushed at her words as I let out a frustrated groan.

"Claire Maria, you're not helping me here."

"Middle names, huh? Alright, James Lake Junior, I didn't know I had to." She smirked before leaning down and placing a quick kiss on my forehead. "It's going to be fine. We'll go back home to Arcadia, see our parents so that they know before the media does, and come back before the showcase the next day. No big deal."

"So much for you to say. My mom always liked you."

"Aw don't be a drama queen. That's my job, remember?" I looked up to her to see she was giving me a gentle look as she now caressed my left cheek with her right hand. "I'll be right beside you through it all. I won't let him get to you."

"And if he does?" A spark seemed to appear in her eyes that made a chill run through my body. She leaned in suddenly so that her lips were mere centimeters away from mine as she whispered softly toward me.

"I'll give them hell like I used to." I closed my eyes on instinct as she captured my lips softly right after she spoke. I smiled into the touch as I felt her do the same. Soon after though, she pulled back and gave me a sweet smile. "Are we on the same page?" I gave her a soft smile as I suddenly felt as if I could take on the world within that moment.

"Most definitely."

* * *

"Are we sure about this?" I whispered to her softly as we neared the front porch of her parent's house. Claire's hand was in mine and I held onto it like a lifeline as we went up the front steps together.

_My mom took it very well. She seemed to think that we were showing up with bad news at first or something must have happened for us to be in Arcadia out of nowhere with not a single call or text in advance._

_But when I said that Claire and I were dating, to say she lost her shit was an understatement._

_"No way." My mom looked between us for a moment as Claire slipped her hand into mine._

_"I think we broke her." I chuckled at her as I brought my attention back toward my mom._

_"Are you okay, mom?"_

_"Okay?" She let out an airy laugh as she ran a hand through her red hair. It had a few grey specks in it now, but it just as vibrant as it always was when I was growing up. "I'm_ more _than okay! I've been waiting for you two to get together!" I chuckled at her as she held out her arms toward us. "Come here, you rascals! I thought you two were here to tell me something bad happened, not that you two were together!" I laughed at her as Claire and I moved together to be hugged by my mom._

_"Here I thought we broke you, Barbara."_

_"Oh, honey." She pulled back from us to look at Claire with a soft look on her face. "You might as well start calling me mom."_

_"Mom!"_

_"What? I know you. You've been wanting this more than anything. You won't let this one slip by on you." Claire gave her a sweet smile as I felt my face burn in embarrassment._

_"Works for me! My mom likes being called_ _mamá_ _instead so it won't get confusing on me on who is who."_

_"I hate you both." My mom flashed a smirk toward me as she crossed her arms over her chest._

_"I think everyone here knows that you feel quite the exact opposite for everyone in this room."_

_"Mom!"_

_"She's not wrong, Jim."_

_"You've my girlfriend. You're supposed to be on my side." My mom pulled Claire into her side for a side hug as she gave me a wide smile._

_"Didn't you know? The bonds between mother's and their son's girlfriends are unbreakable. You brought this upon yourself."_

_"You two are going to be the death of me, aren't you?" Both of them gave me a wide smile as they spoke nearly in sync._

_"Oh definitely."_

"Oh, come on. My parents will take it just as well as mom did." She flashed me a smirk as I felt my cheek blush once more.

"You're not going to live that down, are you?"

"Why would I?" She squeezed my hand gently as I let out a soft sigh in reply. "Loosen up, Lake. It's not like you're meeting them for the first time."

"Don't remind me. Remember how I tripped over my words for a solid ten minutes because I was so nervous?"

"My dad did have his infamous scary routine going on, so I don't blame you. But this is something they can't change. We're adults, remember? If they hate, so fucking what?" I gave her a confused look as she just raised an eyebrow at my confusion. "What? Did you think I would break up with you all because they wouldn't like the idea? I've been pinning for far too long to give up on this now, Lake. You're not getting rid of me anytime soon." I smiled toward her before looking toward the front door once more.

"Then let's do this." I could tell by the slight squeeze on my hand that she was smiling at my response. She stepped forward and knocked at the door twice. The sound of small rushing footsteps came toward the door before the door swung itself open to welcome us to the sight of a small blonde-haired boy. His hazel eyes that were like an exact copy of Claire's looked up toward us in shock before a bright smile came over the boy's face.

"¡Hermana mayor!" Claire slipped her hand out of mine as the boy dashed forward to wrap his arms around her legs. She placed her hands onto his back in reply as a soft laugh came out of her.

"Hola hermanito." After the boy pulled back from her, she dropped to her knees to look the little boy in the eyes. "My, look at how big you've gotten!" I knelt beside them as the blonde then brought his attention toward me instead.

"¡Hermano mayor Jim!" He slipped out of Claire's grasp and basically slammed himself into my chest as he wrapped his arms around my neck. I let out a hearty laugh as I tried my best to keep myself upright.

"Hey there, Enrique." I reciprocated the hug with a smile as I glanced over toward Claire who was giving a soft smile at the scene.

"Enrique? Who is it-?" Claire brought herself to her feet as she looked ahead toward the masculine voice that spoke out toward us.

"Hola papá." She entered the doorway for a mere second before her dad came forward to engulf her in a hug. I smiled at the two of them as I knew that it has been a few years since Claire as been back in Arcadia. Two to be exact.

_Don't get me wrong. She made sure to never forget major family events or anything. Sending text, cards, and even setting up FaceTimes with them on birthdays or special holidays so they never felt like she abandoned them, but her newest movie made it difficult for her to see them as of recently. It showed how the man held his grown daughter as if he let her go that he wouldn't see her again._

I picked Enrique up with a smile as I entered the home and closed the door behind me. I shifted Enrique so he was within my right arm so he sat on my hip as Claire and her father pulled apart from one another.

"Mi pequeña niña." A soft smile appeared on Javier looked at her. "Oh, how you have grown on me." She giggled at this as she gave her dad an equally soft smile in return.

"I was about to say, I'm not a little girl anymore, papá." At this point, Javier seemed to realize I was there with Enrique in hand as he gave me a simple nod.

"Jim."

"Mr. Nuñez." I gave him a nervous smile as Enrique squirmed lightly in my arm.

"Can I tell mamá that Claire is here?" I knelt down to put Enrique back onto his feet as I gave him a wide smile.

"Go ahead, Enrique." Javier spoke to him with a soft tone as I stood back to my full height. I looked back toward her dad as the gentle look on his face reappeared. "Not that I don't love to see you, mi hija, but a text would have been lovely."

"Well, we weren't planning on this till yesterday and I kind of wanted it to be a surprise." Claire moved so she was beside me once more as she gave her dad a wide smile. "We've got some news for you and mamá." The older man crossed his arms over his chest as he looked between Claire and me for a moment. I felt my nerves swelling in my chest as I saw a spark of hatred within the Latino's eyes deep hazel eyes. She seemed to pick up on it though as she suddenly grew defensive at my side. "Papá. Don't look at him like that."

"Well if the news is what I think it is, then I have all right to." I felt a blush appear on my face as I instantly understood what he meant by that.

"Enrique said someone was at the-." Ophelia came down the staircase at just the right time as she rushed toward Claire and me with open arms. "¡Hija!" She pulled Claire into a hug first before turning her attention toward me after they separated. "Jim. Wonderful to see you as always." She pulled me into a hug that I reciprocated with a smile.

"Mrs. Nuñez. Great to see you too." She pulled back from me to look over both Claire and me with a wide smile.

"Look at you two!" She gestured her arms toward both of us as she brought her attention to her husband. "Look at them! Oh, how you two have grown!" I chuckled mentally as I noted how each of the three Nuñez adults in the room has each said the same thing.

_If you couldn't tell they were related by looks, then that would definitely give it away._

"They have news for us." Ophelia gave Javier a confused look as she went to join his side as Claire had done to me.

"And what is that?" I brought my attention toward Claire as she just looked up toward me with a large grin. She turned her head so she could look at her parents before taking a deep breath.

"Mamá. Papá." She turned her head back toward me as I felt her hand slip into mine once more. "Jim and I are dating." After a second of giving each other reassuring smiles, we both brought our attention toward Claire's parents that were awfully silent at the news. "¿Mamá? ¿Papá?" They were silent for a minute longer before Ophelia spoke.

"Honestly, I thought by all the headlines I saw of you two that you were already dating." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as her mom gave us a wide smile once more. "Congratulations. The both of you."

_Well. I have her approval. Sorta._

I looked over toward Javier that still didn't speak just yet.

_One more to go, though._

He looked between Claire and me for a moment as I just squeezed her hand gently as I felt my anxiety swell within my chest.

_You would think performing for millions on occasion would make moments like this easy. But truthfully nothing can train you for telling your girlfriend's scary-ass father that you're dating._

"¿Papá?" Claire spoke softly toward her father as he instead gave me his complete attention.

"Treating her well?"

"As best as I always have."

"Giving her everything she deserves?"

"As much as I can."

"Being a gentleman."

"Just as my mother has taught me." He looked into my eyes as if he was looking into my soul as he stepped forward to stand before me. Suddenly, his hard features broke as he placed his hands onto his shoulders.

"If you're treating mi princesa well, then you're good with me." He glanced over toward his daughter for a moment as he continued speaking. "Always figured you had a thing for this one anyway."

"¡Papá!" I smiled as Javier gave a small laugh at his daughter's reaction. He patted my shoulders for a second with a simple nod.

"Bienvenido a la familia." He smirked as he gripped my shoulders a little too tight for my comfort. "Lastima a mi hija y te irás en una bolsa para cadáveres." I gave him a shocked look as I knew just enough Spanish to understand what the man had threatened me with.

"¡Papá! Don't scare him!"

"What? I had the right. I need to make sure whatever man comes along knows that he should treat you right. If not for you well being, than their own."

"Javier."

"Oh, come on, Ophelia. It's a tradition."

"Don't be scaring him off on her. You know just as much as I do that she likes him a lot more than she says."

"Mamá." I smirked as I looked over toward Claire who was blushing like a fool due to her parent's words.

"Now you know how I felt when you and my mom were team tagging on me." She gave me a shy glance as she squeezed my hand gently.

"Shush."

"Well dinner is almost done, right, Javier?" The man gave his wife a simple nod before she continued on. "So how about you two stay a little while? It's been a bit since you've been home anyway, hija." Claire looked at me as I just gave her a smile in reply. Seemingly getting the answer she was looking for, she turned her attention toward her mother once more.

"Of course!"

"Wonderful! Let's get cleaned up then, huh?"

* * *

The few hours we spent at the Nuñez estate went by fast as I was now leaning on the front porch post as Claire was talking with her mom before we made our way back to LA. But it wasn't like I didn't enjoy the time I have spent here. It was just that I've had enough embarrassment for the rest of my life if I'm honest.

But when the door opened behind me, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The soft laugh behind me though calmed me easily though as I heard the soft taps of dress shoes come closer to me.

"You're quite easy to scare, aren't you, Jim?" I smiled at Javier as he came closer and presented me with one of the two glass bottles in his hands. "I saw you both came here in hija's car so I figure this won't harm you. You do drink, don't you?" I took the obvious beer from the older man as I gave him a thankful nod.

"Occasionally. Never when I'm driving. But knowing Claire-." He gave a small laugh as he leaned onto the railing of the front porch as I was.

"She would tell you to live a little." I opened the beer with a chuckle as I glanced over toward the older man.

"Exactly. No wonder where she gets it from."

"Oh trust me. You should have seen her mother in high school. Just as rebellious."

"Just as stubborn."

"Oh, of course. She didn't get that drive from me, that's for sure." I chuckled at that as I shared a smile with him.

"Um, not to say anything weird, but why are you being so kind to me right now?" I looked over toward him as I spoke. "Sorry, it's just that, you just threatened me with a grand body bag exit and now you're giving me a beer on your front porch? Just seems a little sudden."

"Well," He took a quick swig from his beer as if it's liquid courage was needed for him to continue speaking. He swallowed quickly before he started speaking again. "After speaking to you and remembering how you were always willing to give the world for my little princesa when you two were young," He brought the bottle close to his lips once more as he finished his statement quickly. "I guess you won me over in the end." I flashed him a grin before taking a quick swig of my beer as he did the same. I swallowed it quickly as I noticed there was still a gloomy look on his face.

"But?"

"J-." He stuttered for a second as he brought his attention toward me. "Just don't take her away from me too soon. Okay?" I gave him a simple nod as I took another sip out of my drink.

"I won't ever take her away from you, sir. I've known Claire for years now. The two men that she'll always care about more than anything is you and Enrique. There is no change to that." He gave me a soft smile as silence hung between us for a second.

"But you can't seem to see it, huh?" I tilted my head in confusion as continued. "You say that we're the only men she cares about but you don't see the way she looks at you. I know my daughter. She looks at you like she has never seen before." I smiled toward him as I felt butterflies dance within my stomach. I saw it within her eyes myself. Especially within these past few weeks of dating together, but I never allowed myself to think about it too much.

_But hearing it from her dad? The man that she would always put above everyone ever since I have met her? That made it more cementing than even seeing it._

"Thank you, sir."

"Javier. You can call me Javier." I gave him a shocked look as he just smirked in reply. "You've earned it." I smiled in reply as we went on to just enjoy our beers in our silent company.

* * *

"Look at these." Claire flashed me a large smile as she showed me her phone as we were laying on the couch together. "People literally lost their minds. Thank God we told our parents first. My mother would be calling me in a fucking fit." I looked over what she was showing me which was specifically a photo of Claire and me at her movie premiere. The headline underneath the photo was bold text that said 'THE WAIT IS OVER, JLAIRE IS ALIVE'. I chuckled at the headline with a smile dancing on my lips.

"Wow. A ship name."

"You never heard it before?" I shrugged as I gave her my answer.

"I knew people wanted us together, but I never really cared to keep up with it all. I was more focused on the real you and me instead of what others were saying about us." She smiled up at me for a second before leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to my cheek.

"That's sweet of you. But I still kept up with them because I thought they were absolutely hilarious."

"In what way?"

"In the way that complete strangers were just slightly more desperate for me to start dating you than I was." I laughed wholeheartedly at her as she smacked me on the chest lightly. "Stop laughing at me."

"Hey! I was just as desperate at this as you were!"

"Doesn't change the fact that you laughed at me."

"Your stubbornness will be the end of you, Nuñez."

"This I have been told many times, Lake."

"So how are you going to deal with us being apart in a few months?" I shot her a lopsided grin as the idea of me being on tour for the new album drop in the next two months was going to cause a possible strain between us. Even though we have dealt with long-distance before as friends, the idea of leaving her side now was more painful than ever before with our recent developments.

_But I should have known that was coming when I game Nomura the rest of the album._

"I have my own stuff starting up the month after you leave. It'll be lonely as always after you set out on the open road again. You're going to Europe this time around, right?" I flashed her a smile.

_I only ever brought up the tour dates with her once, but that just shows how lucky I am to have such an attentive girlfriend._

_Wow. Still can't seem to not get butterflies whenever I even_ think _about that word._

"Yup! The first show will be in Nevada and the last will be in France. It's gonna be a wild one." I lifted a hand up to toy with her hair gently. "I'll be sure to call you every night though. As per usual from our tour routine."

"And I'll be sure to be awake. Even if I have late-night film sessions." I smiled at that as she brought her phone back to her as a loud ding came from the object. Suddenly, she shot up and escaped my grasp so she was sitting up beside me instead. I sat up instantly as worry swirled within my chest instantly.

"Is something wrong?"

"I was dropped." I gave her a confused look that she didn't seem to even have to turn her head to see. "The movie I'm supposed to start filming in a few months. I was dropped from it."

"What?" I moved so that I was sitting beside her instead. "Why would they do that? Wasn't the director of this one practically begging for you to work with him?"

"Yeah. Even offered me an _actual_ stunt devil instead of me having to do it myself like in Turbo Raiders."

"What made him change his mind then? Weren't you ask to start memorizing the script and everything already too? Why would he just-?" Another ding came from Claire's phone which she read with a defeated look on her face.

"Darci said he didn't give a reason why. She said that it seems fishy." I felt a slight bit of anger fill my system as I looked over the text from Darci over her shoulder.

"A little bit more than fishy."

"I don't understand." She collapsed against the couch cushions as she dropped her phone to her side. "I was told that the part was practically _made_ for me. Something completely new as well as the same from all the characters I've done before. A punk teenage witch fighting evil magical trolls to save the world as she's still trying to find herself at the same time." She sighed as she leaned her head back to look up at the ceiling. "I was really looking forward to this one, Jim. Did I do something wrong at all? I must have with him dropping me only a few months before the actual production starts." I got up from where I was sitting so I could sit on the floor before her as I reached out to grab both of her hands.

"There is nothing that you did that was wrong."

"How do you know that?" She brought her attention down toward me with a sad gleam in her eye. I just gave her a lopsided smile as I tighten my grip on both of her hands.

"Because you're Claire Maria Nuñez. You're the most amazing person I know. You're strong, stubborn as a mule, and downright talented. You would put god damn Emma Watson to shame."

"You and I both know I could never-."

"No. _You_ think that you could never. _I_ think you could take this whole damn world by storm if given the opportunity to." She gave me a soft smile as I decided to keep talking. "If this asshole saw the talent you have and then caused his mind cause of whatever bullshit reasoning he's keeping to himself, then he can fuck right off." She leaned forward and slipped her hands out of mine to instead cup my face into them.

"What would I do without you, Lake?" I smiled up toward her with a small shrug.

"I don't know. What would you do without me?"

"I wouldn't be fucking here. That's for sure." I chuckled at that before she planted a quick kiss on my lips. When she leaned back from me, I couldn't help but stare up at her like some kind of lovesick fool before her.

_Well. I kind of am but that's beside the point._

_Man. It's going to truly be difficult for the both of us now since she was dropped by the film though. Working on our separate stuff always kept us busy from our constant loneliness. Toby would also joke that it was our own fault since we always spent all of our free time together instead of anyone else._

I felt my eyes widened slightly as I came to a quick and sudden idea.

_But wait. Maybe we don't have to be apart._

"Go on tour with me." Claire gave me a shocked look as the words fell from my mouth just as suddenly as the thought had appeared in my mind. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to and I can understand if you just want to look for another project instead, but maybe this will be good for you. A small break won't kill you, right?" I gave a small nervous chuckle in between statements. "Or maybe I'm just skipping ahead a bit too far and just crossing a bunch of lines here. Sorry."

"Don't be." Her voice was soft. Her thumbs dancing over my cheekbones as she looked at me as if I was the most precious thing in the world to her. "We've never been ones for traditional ways of life anyway." She smiled at me as I felt a flutter within my chest with how her eyes seemed to look deep within my soul.

"So is that a yes?"

"It's an 'I'll ask Darci to make sure I'm not stepping on her toes'. So basically a yes." I jumped up to my feet and pulled Claire up with me as I let out a joyous yell.

"Hell yeah!" Claire laughed at this as she slipped her arms around my neck.

"It's not set in stone just yet, loverboy."

"That's good enough for me!" I gave her a wide smile as my arms snaked themselves around her. She just giggled at me in reply. I didn't care about anything else at this point as I pulled her close to me.

_Having Claire become my girlfriend as well as possibly come on tour with me? Best fucking year of my goddamn life._ _Nothing can change this for me._

_Not a goddamn_ fucking _thing._


	9. Start With A Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really shouldn't be writing right now since it's nearly three in the morning here, but you know what? Fuck it lol.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this update! There are a few things I have planned here. A small amount of foreshadowing being thrown in for your enjoyment... Or torture. Either way.
> 
> Much love, my friends!

"You can always back out of this." I wrapped an arm around Claire as we made our way toward the tour bus together.

"I already told you." She turned her head toward me and flashed me an excited smile. "I'm all in on this." I smiled in reply as she wrapped an arm around my middle. "Even then, someone has to carry on the tradition." She tugged at the shirt she was wearing. My smile grew slightly as I knew what she was implying by the gesture.

Ever since my first tour, I always wore one of the tour shirt designs that the record company had me pick from. It was a small tradition, but once that I held dear to my heart since I first started performing for the masses. It was my way of showcasing that I was just as excited as the fans for what was to come.

But instead of me wearing it this time around, I gave Claire to option instead and I don't regret it a damn thing.

It was a little large on her, sure, but she was smart enough to find her way around it. A hair tie was enough to allow her to bundle the hem onto the one side loose enough to not ruin the shirt but tight enough to make it not look like a tent on her smaller torso. The designs I chose for the concert shirts have always been simple, but the one she had on was probably my favorite of the bunch. The fabric itself was a simple black as the tour name " _When You're Ready_ " danced across her chest in big white letters as my last name was in electric blue hue while it wrapped around a royal blue rose in the center of the shirt.

There was something intimate about the gesture that I can't really describe. Why? I have no clue but now I understand why the football players in high school would always have their girlfriends wearing their jerseys or letterman jackets.

"Nevada's first, right?"

"Yup." She wrapped an arm around the lower part of my back as I flashed her a large smile. "Hope you enjoy long bus rides."

"Like in our old high school days?" She giggled a little at the statement as she brought herself closer to my side. "Most definitely!"

"Alright love birds," Toby gave us a small smile as he gestured to our normal tour bus. "There some rules. No having sex in the seats, don't be canoodling in front of the crew, and please don't be disgustingly adorable. Okay? Okay." I rolled eyes at him as Claire just leaned up against me and placed a quick kiss on my cheek. I pulled her closer to my side as I shot him a large smile. "You know what? Just keep it on the down-low. You two will just continue anyway."

"What? Gotta make up for lost time." I smiled at her words as she both of her arms now around my middle.

"I agree."

"You two are extra as hell."

"Only together." Claire giggled a little at me as I let her go to let her onto the bus.

"Seriously though, dude." Toby stopped me before I could follow her. "Don't get distracted. The label agreed to Claire coming as long as this is the best show you give to the audience."

"I'll give the best I can no matter what." I gave him a wide smile as I took my first step onto the bus. "I've got you and Claire to perform for anyway. Gotta make it my best." I slapped him on the shoulder with a chuckle as we both made our way onto the bus together.

"And we'll do everything we can to make sure of it."

* * *

_You would think that the first day of performing on tour is ecstatic. It's electrifying. Full of energy and jitters that build up within your system until the time you actually step out onto the stage and perform your heart out for the first time on your tour calendar._

I pulled my earpiece out as I made my way off the stage from the soundcheck.

_But when you've done this as long as I have, it starts becoming everyone being nervous wrecks while you're just trying to make sure everyone is calm before the performance._

_Don't get me wrong, I love tours. Performing for the people that allow me to do what I love is something that makes me feel like everything is right in the world. Hearing them sing along to songs I know they understand and feel just as much as I did writing them nearly brings me to tears each time I hear it._

_But the tech guys running around with their head cut off, Toby being an anxious wreck trying to make everything perfect, the poor roadies and bandmates chosen for the tour acting as if they only have one shot at this always makes me feel as if it's not as fair on them. It always made me saddened knowing that, yes, I'm the one singing. I'm the one that wrote the songs and everything, but they are the ones that make it possible and it's not fair that no one else sees it. I always have Tobes give them bonuses out of the money I get from all of this, but I doubt that's enough of a thank you for all of them._

"You look calm for someone I know would always lose his mind hours before he performed." I smiled at Claire as she walked up toward me. She decided to put herself, in her words, to good use while we were doing the soundcheck by helping out the outfit and make-up people with their scurrying around to get everything perfect before the show.

_This is ironic since I almost always wear the same thing when I perform so having a whole outfit and make-up department never made any sense to me._

"I stopped freaking out after I played at Madison."

"Oh, I remember you calling me that night. You couldn't sleep due to how excited you were."

"Honestly, I'm still not over it." She gave me a simple smile as I felt her wrap her arms around my neck once she got close enough.

"I wouldn't either. Madison's a big deal especially since you accomplished getting a gig there at only eighteen." She leaned up and placed a quick kiss on my cheek as I wrapped my arms around her in reply. "Still proud of you as ever, by the way."

"I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for you and Tobes. I was losing my mind."

"Oh trust me. I know. You almost gave my ass a panic attack with how nervous you were. Couldn't blame you though."

"Wasn't as nervous as I was when we ended up together."

"You didn't _feel_ nervous." She gave me a large smirk as I had a blush take over my cheeks.

"Did you seem to forget us acting like nervous teenagers for a solid ten minutes or are you just glossing over that because you were nervous for once in your life?"

"As my mother would say, a Nuñez is never nervous."

"You felt pretty nervous to me." I gave her a smirk in reply as she just unwrapped one of her arms so she had a hand to slap me in the shoulder with.

"Shush."

"Aw, come on. You can't say I was wrong."

"Doesn't mean you had to say it."

"Nuñez never nervous my ass." I chuckled at her as she smacked my shoulder once more.

"Asshole."

"Love you too, Nuñez." She looked up toward me with wide eyes as I realized what exactly I had said. I gave a small airy laugh as I saw the shock in her eyes. "I said that too soon didn't I?" Instantly, Claire pushed forward and placed her lips on mine. She pulled me close to her by my jacket collar. I tightened my grip on her in return as I kissed her back until she pulled back suddenly.

"Nothing is too sudden for us." She smiled at me as she pressed her forehead against mine. "I love you too." I felt a smile spread across my face like a fool as I leaned in suddenly to capture hers once more. After we pulled apart once more, we just kept smiling toward one another like lovesick teenagers.

"Jesus. You two look like you're on some kind of honeymoon instead of a tour." I turned my attention over toward Toby as I pulled Claire into a tight hug as her head found itself onto my left shoulder.

"Feels like it, honestly." Claire giggled gently against my neck as I leaned my cheek on top of her head.

"Wonderful. But we've got a show guys in t-minus three hours. We need to get ourselves together here." I brought my head back up as I looked toward Claire with a smirk.

"I think we're pretty together. Don't you think?"

"I think we're perfectly together." She placed another quick kiss on my lips, but I recaptured her lips almost as soon as she pulled away from me. From the smile she had on her lips, I could tell she was okay with it though.

"Well if you two can be perfectly together in your dressing room and get ready for the show, that would be great." I felt Claire unwrap one of her arms as she was more than likely flipping off Toby like she did to her friends a few months ago. "HEY! Don't give me that gesture, young lady!" I felt her re-wrap her arms around me as we deepened our kiss. "Okay, I get it. Have fun with each other, but you better be ready by showtime, mister!" With that, Toby fleeted away from both of us. After it was apparent he was gone, we pulled apart from each other to share soft smiles.

"I guess we should get you ready, huh?" I unwrapped my arms around her so I could reach up and cup her face.

"I think we can wait a little bit, don't you think?" She smiled at this as she leaned ever so slightly closer to me.

"You're a terrible influence."

"As always." We pumped out noses gently together as she tightened her grip on my jacket.

"I never minded it." We leaned in together to capture each other's lips once more. But after a few seconds, we pulled apart once more to have Claire gently tugging me toward the dressing room. "Come on, let's get you ready before Toby comes ruining the fun again." I allowed her to pull me along as I kept a content smile on my face.

_Honestly, I would get in trouble for you any day,_ _Nuñez._

* * *

"I never understood having a dressing room when I always wear the same stuff when performing." I smiled at Claire as I slipped my guitar strap over my head so it settled onto my left shoulder. She walked up to me and fixed my tank-top since the guitar strap wrinkled it a little.

"Don't fix what's not broken." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to my cheek for what felt like the hundredth time today. "Nervous?"

"Not really." I placed my hands on her waist as I rubbed my thumbs gently on her sides. I couldn't help but give her a lopsided smile as she placed her hands onto my shoulders. Her hazel eyes looked at me with such pride that it made my confidence swell within my chest.

"So I'm the only thing that can make you nervous now?" I chuckled at her a little as my smile grew slightly.

"Are you proud of yourself?"

"Oh, of fucking course, Lake." Her arms looped themselves around my neck as gave a small laugh of her own in return. "But I'm more proud of you." She gave me a sweet smile as she continued. "You've come so far since the first time I saw you sing in front of a crowd. A lot more comfortable than you were at the battle of the bands in sophomore year." I couldn't help but blush a little at the memory of my first real performance.

_"Claire, I don't think I can do this."_

_"You can and I won't let you give up so easily."_

_"And what if I mess up? What if I forget my_ own _words, Claire? What is I fail like at everything fucking else?" She placed a hand under my chin as she forced me to look her in the eyes._

_"James Lake Junior, you will not fail, you will not forget the words to your song, and you most definitely won't mess up. If you get anxious, just look toward me, okay? I'll be right here. Just treat it like we're back at your house and you're just singing for fun." I swallowed hard as I looked deep into her eyes. They looked at me with this sense of confidence that I wish I could have within myself at that moment as I held the fretboard of my guitar in a death grip. "If it gets too much, just look to me, okay?" I nodded once as I felt a little bit more at ease._

_"Next up, Jim Lake!" Claire gave me a sweet smile as she dropped her hand from my chin so she could place both her hands onto my shoulders._

_"You've got this."_

_"I've got this." She patted my shoulders once as her smile widened._

_"That's the Jim I know." I gave her a smile in return as she dropped her hands from me. "Now give them one hell of a show." I nodded once to her before turning toward the stage with a smile._

_Ever since, whenever I would get nervous, I would remind myself of that moment. Remember that no matter what, I had people that backed me. That would stand beside me even if I tripped up or messed up my own lyrics. No matter what, I had family and friends to pick me up when I fall._

_Most of all, though._

I smiled as I pulled Claire into a loose hug.

_I always had someone that believed in me more than I ever could._

A knock came to the dressing room door before a head peeped in.

"T-minus thirty minutes. Better make your way to the wings." With that, the blonde-haired man that popped into the room was gone as he closed the door with a soft click behind him.

"Ready?" I whispered to Claire as I leaned my head against hers.

"I should be asking you that." I chuckled at her as we pulled ourselves out of the hug to make our way out of the dressing room.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

* * *

"Remember the setlist, right?" I nodded my head as Toby spoke. My hand in Claire's as he gave me the normal run down. "Good." My best friend gave me a large smile before reaching out to place a hand on my right shoulder. "Knock 'em dead, Jimbo." I gave him a large smile in return as I felt Claire squeeze my hand gently.

"Don't push yourself too hard though. You got a whole list of cities to give a show they'll never forget to." I leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as I heard our announcer speak over the loudspeakers.

"I won't, but I'll give them the best I can give. No matter what." She giggled at that as she gripped my hand a little tighter.

"That's my boy." I slipped out of her grip with a smile as I started making my way toward the stage. Toby yelling out toward me more words of encouragement.

"YOU'VE GOT THIS MATE! START THIS TOUR WITH A BANG!" I flashed a smile toward him over my shoulder as I started to feel the stage lights caress my skin like they always did. A swirl of confidence filling my being as I heard the announcer call my name over the loudspeakers.

"EVERYONE! PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR JIM LAKE!" I heard the crowd roar as they always did as I opened my arms wide while reaching my mic. I smiled toward the crowd of nearly faceless figures due to the blinding lights, but only one thought filled my mind.

_Start with a bang, I will._

* * *

"People are already calling this your best show yet." I hummed in reply as Claire placed her head onto my chest. Together we were taking over one of the reclining chairs of the tour bus and using it as a makeshift bed as we laid there together.

"Really?" She hummed in reply this time as she showed me her phone. A picture of me singing and playing my guitar was at the top of the website she was on as the title ' _We Weren't Ready For Jim Lake's Best Performance Yet_ '. "Those cheesy bastards. I won't who came up with that title." She giggled at that as she brought her phone back to her.

"I don't know, but I think they believe they're a clever one."

"Anything else being said about it?"

"Well, besides people finding on I'm here with you, not really." I gave her a confused look as she turned her phone back toward me. A picture of Claire and me heading toward the tour bus back in Los Angles with her in my tour shirt was under bold letters saying ' _The Jlaire Tour We Always Wanted_ '.

"Okay, now that one is from a cheesy fucker." Claire laughed wholeheartedly at this as she brought her phone back to her once more.

"Honestly, I still can't get over the ship name. Personally, I think Luñez rolls off the tongue better."

"I hate to agree to any ship name, but yeah. I like Luñez better. Doesn't make me feel like I have cotton balls in my mouth while I try to say it."

"Exactly!" I chuckled at her as she got a ding from her phone. She read over it rather quickly as her smile fell from her lips almost instantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Found out why the director dropped me."

"What for?"

"Darci just told me that they reoffered the movie to her as long as I broke up with you." I gave her a shocked look as she continued. "The director's reasoning being, 'I don't want my film out-shined by media drama'. She already told him to, and I'm quoting her here, fuck off before I could myself."

"But that's stupid. Why would us dating cause any issues with his film?" She shrugged at this as she flipped her phone into her jeans so she could lay back down on top of me.

"I don't know and I don't care. Any film that's telling me to give up my own happiness for it can fuck right off." She wrapped her arms around me as she placed her head back down onto my chest. "I would rather die, honestly." I smiled at her as I snaked my arms around her in return. Holding her closer to me as I let out a content sigh.

"I would too. If the record company told me tomorrow that they would drop me because of you, I would sign myself right over to whatever place would take me instead."

"And that is one of the reasons I love you." I felt my smile widen on my face as I tighten my hold on her as if I let her go within that moment, then she would disappear.

"I love you too." I tilted my head to place a simple kiss on the top of her head as I felt a wave of tiredness take over my body. "I love you too." The words this time coming out of me like a content sigh as I closed my eyes gently.

_No matter what, I'll always have Claire to come back to. It doesn't matter how many times I fall apart, she'll always be there to put me together._

I felt her tuck her head under my chin as she let out a content sigh of her own.

_Movie deals, record contracts, or not. We'll always be there for each other._

_Always._


	10. His Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my friends! How are you guys today? I hope you're doing well.
> 
> Here I am. Still writing up a storm. I think it's the excessive amount of energy I have at the moment... Or the coffee that's in my system. Honestly, I don't know yet.
> 
> WARNING THOUGH!
> 
> There is a bit more heated content in this chapter. Not like anything actually sexually explicit, but suggestive ideas. Ya know? Why did I write it? Honestly, I have no clue. This chapter came from me legit just shutting my mind off and letting my fingers do the typing.
> 
> Anyway! Hope you guys enjoy! Much love, my friends!

_When Jim asked me to go on tour with him, I was nervous._

_He and I spent a lot of free time together since we were high schoolers, but I felt as if I was overstepping my boundaries in a way. Don't get me wrong, I always loved hearing him sing since we were sixteen, but seeing him perform to such a large number of people made me feel as if I was looking at the most exposed version of him. Especially now since I know exactly what he was singing about and how he was able to muster such raw emotion in his voice._

_But each time that I felt like I was intruding, he would welcome me with open arms. Each city we stopped in bringing us closer than ever before._

I felt my back press gently against the metal door of his lips captured mine. A soft gasp escaping me as my fingers gripped the back of his hair.

_Well. Closer was an understatement._

I could swear that my eyes were rolling back into my head as his body was flush against mine. His right hand engulfing my hip as his other was placed onto the door to keep him steady.

"Where the hell are they? We need to get leaving for the next stop." I smirked against Jim's lips as I heard a small grumble come from the musician.

"We can be late." He took my lips as his own once more as the sound of footsteps walked past the room we were hidden within.

"I," I spoke between messy kisses as it was obvious neither of us wanted to stop anytime soon. "I don't think the label would like that very much."

"Fuck the label." He moved his attention toward my neck as he placed a few quick kisses onto the sensitive skin there. I drew in a sharp breath as he licked gently at the exposed skin.

"You're gonna-." I closed my eyes as I tried to steady my wavering voice. "Leave a mark." He just murmured something against my skin before moving his attention toward the opposite side of my neck.

_Jesus fucking Christ, Lake._

I tightened my grip on his hair as just groaned in this deep tone in response.

"JIM! CLAIRE! Where the hell are they? Mr. Domzalski is going to lose his mind!" The hurried footsteps went across from where we were once more as I felt a small nip to the base of my neck. I tried my best to stifle the yelp that threatened to escape me as it was obvious that the crewmates searching for us were still near.

"Fuck. Don't do that. You wanna get caught?" He just smirked against my neck before repeating the action. This time the yelp escaping me.

"Hello?"

"Told you." Jim just pulled his head back from my neck and just gave me a lopsided smile.

"Worth it." He leaned in and pressed his forehead against mine. I couldn't help but nearly get lost in his eyes. His pupils dilated beyond compare as the blue within them were nearly nonexistent unless you knew what you were looking for. A smile appeared on my face at the sight of the effects our interaction had on him.

"Mr. Lake?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there. Was just finishing up something." He called out toward the crewmates as his eyes kept themselves on mine.

"Is Ms. Nuñez with you?"

"Yeah, I'm here." I called out toward them as I placed my hands onto Jim's shoulders. "Just helping him out. We'll be at the bus in a moment."

"Alright. Just hurry, please. I rather not have the wrath of a stress Mr. Domzalski."

"You got it!" I smiled as Jim and I responded in sync. I giggled at it as the footsteps fled the scene once more. "Can't tell we've been friends for a while."

"Can't tell at all." I smiled up toward him as he placed his hands onto my hips. "Guess we should get going."

"Yeah. Before Toby rips the head off of a poor roadie." He chuckled at that as we moved away from the door just enough so that we could leave whatever room it was that we were hiding within.

"This isn't done though." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we exited the room.

"Wouldn't want anything less, Lake." I smirked up toward him as I wrapped an arm around his waist in reply.

* * *

"You two were making out in some fucking spare room of the concert hall, weren't you?"

"What?" I gave a dramatic performance as I placed a hand onto Jim's chest. "We would never!" I felt Jim's laughter as it rattled his chest gently.

"Yeah! We would never do such a thing!" Toby gave us a blank stare before pointing toward my neck.

"Yeah, and Claire got bit by like four mosquitos between when I saw her last and now." I felt a simple blush take over my cheeks before looking toward Jim who was beside me. His cheeks were just as pink as I figured mine must have been looking like. Toby let out a sigh as he just ran a hand through his air. "Well, you two will get your alone time soon enough. After our show in New York, we're taking a break from night travel since we need to catch a plane to the UK afterward."

"Are we staying at the normal place?"

"Yup."

"Same-?"

"As always. Just the way everyone likes it."

"Perfect." I looked between them as I was lost within the almost wordless communication between the two men. "What's wrong, Nuñez?"

"Kind of just lost between what the hell you two are talking about." Jim chuckled once more. His laugh causing his chest to chuckle under my hand once more.

"Don't worry, Claire. You'll love the place. Probably one of my favorite stops on the tour."

"I thought you hated the crowdedness of New York City?" He shrugged at that as he gave me a small smile.

"I might be _performing_ in the city. But we _stay_ somewhere else." I gave him a curious look as he seemed to enjoy stringing me along on the subject. "Don't worry. You'll love it."

"Trust us, C-Bomb." I turned my attention over to Toby who was just giving me a small smile. "You'll love the place."

"Can't wait then." I smiled between both of them.

_The tour might have brought Jim and me closer, but it did the same with the three of us in general. Becoming even closer than we were in high school. Allowing us to see almost every side of each other._

_Even the more professional side to Jim and I's favorite little red-head._

My smile upturned the corners of my mouth even more as I snuggling into Jim's side.

_And I know that even if I don't enjoy wherever we're going, I'm going to enjoy the experience either way._

* * *

Jim's New York show went off without a hitch and it seemed that everyone, even Jim himself who was almost always ready to sing for his fans, was rampant on trying to ourselves to wherever it was that we were heading for our night's stay. I just chalked it up to the fact that everyone must have been sick and tired of sleeping on the tour bus since bucket bus seats weren't the greatest for sleeping.

But that was before I actually saw where we were staying for the night.

"Are you sure this is the place? It looks like some kind of new-age mansion." Jim just chuckled beside me as he gestured toward the large black building with wooden fixtures. It was a beautiful sight, to say the least. The slanted roofed three-tiered structure was a mountain oasis in comparison to the cluttered busy streets of New York City. "We're still in New York, right?" I looked around the green scenery as I took in the absolute beauty that was the nature around us.

"Yes, yes we are." I turned my attention back toward Jim who was smiling down toward me. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" I looked between him and green scenery once more as I reached out and took his hands into mine. "This place is _stunning_."

"Welcome to the lodge then." He laughed a little at the end of his statement before he started tugging me along with him as he made his way toward the entryway. "Come on. If you like the outside then you'll love the rest of it."

"Lead the way, Lake." His smile widened at me as he decided to just that while he pulled me gently behind him.

"Have fun you two!" Toby called out toward us. "Not too much though! Remember, we don't have time to clean up after ourselves." I laughed lightly as I caught up to Jim's side.

"He acts like he owns the place."

"He doesn't." Jim turned his head toward me while he spoke. "I do." I gave him a shocked look. A small laugh escaping the singer as he squeezed my hand gently. "What? Something wrong with that?"

"No, not at all." We came to a stop as we reached the front doors of the lodge. "Just shocked you never told me." Jim gave a small shrug as he opened the front door for me.

"It's more for the tour crew than myself. I pay for people to stay here and do the upkeep though and other musicians and stuff pay me here and there to stay here during their off-seasons so it's just a cool little oasis to have for everyone."

"No wonder why you didn't even need _keys_ to open the damn thing." He just let out a small laugh as he followed me through the door.

"Still love me though, right?" I gave him a soft smile as I reached out to take his hand once more.

"Same as always." We stopped together as we reached the center of the room. It looked as if the whole welcoming area was the whole first floor of the damned place.

"Ah! Jim! Wonderful to see you, as always." I looked over toward Jim who just smiled at the tall man that greeted us. His white suit contrasted greatly against his dark skin, but his wide shining smile seemed to tie the two together. His features were kind as put his hands behind his back while greeting Jim. "And you must be Ms. Nuñez. Welcome." I smiled toward the man as he gave me a small bow.

"No need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Claire if you want."

"Yeah, trust me." I felt Jim let go of my hand so he could drape his arm over my shoulders. "She's hella down to earth."

"My apologies then. From my experiences with some of the people that stay here, they usually relish in the formalities." The man let out a soft laugh as he seemed to loosen up from his rather professional persona. "The names Marcus. I'm Jim's head keeper here for the lodge. I make sure everything in tip-top shape as he's gone then make sure that everything is as it should be when guests arrive. Basically what I'm getting to is that if you need anything or get lost, don't be hesitant to ask."

"Well, thank you, Marcus. It's wonderful to meet you."

"You as well, Claire." He gave me a small nod as he pulled out a small key from his pocket and gave his attention toward Jim once more. "The usual room?"

"As always." Jim reached out and took the key with his free hand. "Thank you, Marc."

"It's what you pay me for." The man gave a humorous smile as the door opened behind us with a small ding that I must have ignored when we first entered. "Now to continue with my work. If you excuse me." He gave us a simple nod before making his way over toward Toby and the rest of the traveling crew. "Gentleman! Wonderful to see you all again!"

"Marcus! Get to see you, man! How's the wife?"

"As they say, happy wife happy life." I couldn't help but laugh as I turned to watch the interaction. The two men pulled each other into a small hug before Marcus bent down to take some of the bags that Toby had beside him. "Let me help you."

"Thanks, man."

"Just doing my job, my friend." I brought my attention back toward Jim who was just enjoying the light scenery of the place. A small content grin on his face as he watched over the scene right along with me. He looked so happy just standing there with his arm pulling me just a little bit closer to his side.

"See why I love this place?"

"Between the scenery and happy lodge-keeper, definitely." He chuckled against me as he pulled me in flush against his side.

"You haven't even seen the rest of it."

"Why don't you show me then?" I smiled as his signature lopsided grin took over his face before taking his arm away from my shoulders to grab my hand and pull toward some unknown destination like we were two children in a toy store. Our laughs echoing off the lodge walls as the static noise of small chatter faded behind us.

* * *

We laughed lightly together as we made our way down the main hallway of the third floor together like giggling children. The sun setting beside us in the large slanted windows as it gave a golden sheet to the wooden fixtures as we made our way to wherever we were walking toward.

"I knew you could kick ass, Nuñez, but I wasn't expecting you to _break_ the damn thing."

"I've been having to do martial art based fighting scenes for my last four movies, Jim. I would remember me complaining about how tired I was between the classes I was taking for them along with the late-night acting session."

"I do! I just wasn't expecting you to break one of the training bags in the workout room!" I laughed as I squeezed his hand that seemed to be glued to mine for most of our time within the lodge. "Like, I knew not to mess with your before, but Christ. Remind me to never anger you." He turned his head toward me to show me a toothy grin. The sun gracing his pale skin with ease while the natural light made his deep ocean eyes look more like little pieces of the sky themselves. A smile appearing on my face as I squeezed his hand once more.

_To think such a sight could be my dearest friend as well as my boyfriend. Possibly the love of my life considering how long I've longed to be with him._

I swallowed dryly as I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles while we came to a stop before a large blue door which was no doubt Jim's personal room within the large building.

_Even though we told each other nearly everything as teenagers, we buried our feelings for one another behind joyful smiles and short relationships that were nothing more than trials to see if we could get over one another. Emotional and physically._

He turned to take my other hand in his as a shy look appeared on his face.

"About what I said earlier." His voice was soft as he toyed with my hands. His eyes cast away from mine as it was obvious he was thinking about something a bit more intimate than what we normally spoke of to one another. "We don't-. I mean, I-." I smiled as the man before me stuttered just like the boy he was when he stole my heart all those years ago. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes gently and recapturing his composer. "You don't need to do anything if you don't want to. You don't need to start or finish anything for me. We don't need to do anything if you don't want to." He opened his eyes slowly and looked up toward me with a genuine gleam in his eyes. I stepped forward toward him while I slipped my hands out of his. Cupping his face with them before pressing my forehead gently against his.

_But I know that it doesn't matter if we tried to get over our feels for each other. It doesn't matter what we have done before._

"Unlock the door, Lake." I spoke softly toward him as my right hand crept itself to intertangle itself with his dark locks of hair. He did as I told him without hesitation. The blue door swinging open before I leaned forward and took his lips into a soft kiss.

_I know I'm most definitely not his first. That's for sure._

I felt his hands engulf my hips as we somehow made our way into the room together before the door closed behind us with a soft click.

_But I'm most certainly going to make sure I'm his last._


	11. Love You All the Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a short one, but I hope you guys enjoy it! I need to plan some more stuff out for this one before I update it again, but I know y'all won't mind it lol
> 
> Anyway! I hope you guys enjoy what I have for you for now! Much love, everybody!

I smiled from ear to ear as I fixed the shirt I was given by the costume coordinator.

"Thanks, Hailey. I'll take care of Jim from here." I looked over toward where Toby's voice was coming from as Hailey made a shift exit. Her presence being replaced with Toby's as he joined my side. "You look happy." My best friend crossed his arms over his chest as he was waiting for the soft click of the changing room door for him to continue. "I don't think I need to ask you why though from what I heard." I blushed slightly as I just gave him a wide smile.

"Yeah?" I grabbed the jacket that was picked out for me that I left on top of the counter beside me. I slipped it on as I kept my smile on my face.

"Oh yeah." I just gave a small laugh at him as I adjusted the jacket on my shoulders. "So? How was it? As good as teenage you would dream of?" I felt my blush deepen as I shot him a glare. "What? you can't tell me that you _never_ dreamt of it."

"You're not wrong, but fuck you."

"You're not answering me, Lake." I looked away from him before letting out a soft chuckle. I put my hands on my hips as I gave him a half-hearted glare.

"I'm not going to."

"From what I heard, you don't really need to."

"Fuck you."

"Love you too, man." He reached out and put his hands onto my shoulders. "Seriously, I'm happy for the two of you. Both of you have been waiting long enough to get together. I honestly thought you two would break at this point if neither of you pushed a little further." He dropped his hands from my shoulders as he gave me a curious look. "You were safe though, right?" My face only got redder as I gave out a stuttering reply.

"T-Tobes! Can we n-not with this!?"

"You weren't were you? Your mother would be ashamed. I thought she raised you better, Jimbo."

"I swear to God, Tobes!"

"Hey! Again, I'm happy for the both of you, but I don't need Darci killing me over you putting Claire out of service for a little while." I brought my hands up to cover my face as Toby just laughed at my reaction. "Bro! You should look at yourself! You're like some kind of bashful sixteen-year-old! It's a little ironic that you've performed for thousands of people, but your girlfriend is the one to turn you into a pure _mess_." I dropped my hands to bite back at his remark as a knock came from the door.

"Boys? You in there?" I looked up toward the door as Claire's voice flowed through it with ease.

_I opened my eyes slowly as I heard cheerful humming coming from the foot of my bed. I sat up from where I was laying to see Claire trying her best to tie her hair behind her head. My plain back v-neck covering her torso easily as she struggled with the hair tie._

_"Stupid fucking-."_

_"Need some help?" She turned her head toward me to give me a gentle smile. The sunrise coming from the high glass windows gracing her face with ease as her smile shined brighter than anything I had seen before._

_"Do you remember how?"_

_"Would you let me forget?" She gave a small giggle as I crawled over to where she was and took the hair tie from her. She turned her attention before her as I gathered the mass of thick hair at the base of her neck and followed the movements she taught me to bring it into a small bun at the bottom of her neck. Once I was done, she turned her head toward me to give another smile to me._

_"Okay," She brought her arms up to wrap them around my neck as she pulled me closer to her. "You are officially the best boyfriend ever for remembering how to do my hair like that." I chuckled at her as I wrapped my arms around her waist._

_"With how many times I had to do it, it's imprinted in my memory. I even remember that half ponytail thing you did when we were juniors."_

_"From when I had my hair dyed white?" She let out a soft laugh as we bumped our foreheads together. I only hummed in reply as she continued. "How many hair ties did I end up trusting you with at that point?"_

_"Enough to make my arm look like a rainbow barrage and it was worth every second of it." She giggled at me once more before leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on my lips._

_"God I love you."_

_"I love you too."_

I felt my blush deepen my cheeks as Claire entered the room. A large smile on her face as she walked up to us.

"Ready for a good show?"

"If Jimbo here doesn't die from embarrassment." I felt Toby pat my right shoulder as I shot him a half-hearted glare.

"Again, fuck off."

"Again, love you too. Here," Toby walked past her as he went to exit the room. "You two can have some alone time. Not too much though. Curtain is in thirty minutes and I rather not start the world part of a world tour late." After only a second of silence after Toby closed the door behind him, Claire spoke in a soft tone.

"He knows doesn't he?"

"Yup." I watched Claire with a skeptical eye as she just shrugged at the idea.

"Oh well. Honestly."

"You're not mad with me or anything?"

"Oh, I know you didn't say anything. Especially by how red in the face you are." I chuckled as she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. The action pulling me into a loose hug as I wrapped my arms around her without a second thought. "Kind of dickish that he did that, honestly."

"That's Tobes and I for ya. We always fuck with each other like that."

"I will never understand you boys."

"Are you supposed to?" I gave her a cheeky smile as she just giggled in reply.

"No, I guess not." She brought her hands up and combed her fingertips through my hair as she just gave me a soft smile in return. "I don't mind the continued desire to keep trying though."

"Even if it leads you nowhere?"

"It lead me to you so I don't think that's nowhere." I gave her a wide smile as she planted a quick kiss on my cheek. "This is your first time performing in England, right?"

"Yup!" I gave a small airy laugh as a nervous feeling swelled within my chest. "I'm a little nervous, actually."

"Think about it as performing anywhere else." She combed her fingers through my hair once more as she gave me a sweet smile. "And if you get too nervous, I'll be right there in the wings. Just like old times." She leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead as I felt the heat from my cheeks subside. The feeling of her holding me calming my nerves with every second.

"What would I do without you?" I smiled at her as she just mimicked the action back toward me.

"Be a lost puppy dog? I have no clue." She unwrapped her arms from me and took both of my hands in hers with ease. "Now, let's get you on that stage so you can give them a show they will never forget." My smile only widened as I let her lead me from the dressing room and into the stage area. A single thought echoing within my mind as I watched her flash a smile over her shoulder at me.

_And a lost puppy I would be._

* * *

I watched in the wings as Jim sang his heart out to the crowd. It was night and day in comparison from the first time I ever saw him sing.

When we were sixteen and he first sang for me, he was fidgety and careful. His eyes never leaving the fretboard of his old acoustic guitar as his voice was soft and obviously nervous.

But now, he moves along to the music. Even forgetting his guitar to his side while he allowed his voice to showcase the raw emotion within his words.

_Yet somehow they were the same. The same guy that was bashful and cautious was the one before me performing as if it would be his last. Glancing over toward me ever so often as if to check if I was still there. My heart warming with each loving smile he sent to me before starting up another one of his songs._

"Don't kill us for this." I looked over to Toby that was just smiling as he kept his eyes on his best friend who had just finished what was supposed to be the last song of the night. "But we've got a surprise for you. Well, more like Jim's got a surprise for you." I gave him a confused look as Jim's voice came over the loudspeakers.

"Alright! I was going to end the night here, but I wanted to do something special today." The crowd roared as I looked over to see that he took the microphone off the stand after moving his guitar to his back. "I've toured for years now, but this one has meant more to me so far than any other. I usually enjoy thanking everyone personally for all the work that they put into bringing this experience to life. Yet someone very specific has been making this tour something I will never forget." I watched with wide eyes as he looked over toward me. He held out his hand toward me as he dropped his hand with the mic to his side.

"Go on." I looked over toward Toby who was now nudging me toward the stage. I turned my head toward Jim once more who just gave me a wide smile in return.

_So much for his old awkwardness. With an act like this, it's obvious he has more confidence than he ever had before._

_Maybe he isn't the same Jim as I remember him being?_

I moved without a second thought as I made my way to join him on stage. The crowd's screams becoming almost deafening as I joined his side. Once he wrapped his arm around my waist, he brought the mic back up to his face.

"I know that I tell you enough that I don't know where I would be without you, but I wanted everyone to know how much you've impacted me in my life." I kept my eyes on him as he spoke as if the world wasn't listening within that moment. "If it wasn't for you, I know I wouldn't be here standing on this stage right now. If it wasn't for you, I don't even think I would have written a song in the first place." I felt a blush take over my face as I saw the sincerity in his eyes. "You've always been my pushing force and now is no different. You've been by my side through everything and you always made me feel as if there was more to me than what I saw in the mirror. When the world tore me down, it was you that put me back together." He gave me a sweet smile as his voice turned to a gentle tone. "And I know this has always been a two-way street with us, but I just wanted the world to know how much you mean to me. Especially this," He turned his attention toward me fully as he kept his eyes on mine. "I love you." I felt a smile appear on my face as he dropped the mic to his side once more. I couldn't help but pull the cheesy bastard in for a tight hug that he reciprocated with ease as I whispered my response to him in his ear.

"I love you too." He just chuckled against me as the sound of the crowd seemed to fade to me. His laughter being the only thing I cared about hearing within that moment. I pulled back from him to place a kiss on his lips as I cupped both sides of his face with my hands.

 _Yes, he's different in a way Jim than the guy I loved since high school. But he's also still the same guy that was too afraid for me to even read his poetry. Let alone listening to him_ sing _it._

We pulled apart and I felt as if I was going to fall to my knees with the beaming smile he had given me afterward.

_Yet either way, I love him all the same. Change or not. Similar or different, he's still Jim._

I pressed my forehead against his as we just giggled together like children.

_And I wouldn't have him any other way._

The bliss of the moment was cut short when the sound of a loud bang came from the crowd. The sudden screams coming from the audience as Jim's face suddenly went pale. But the sounds of their screams were silent to me as Jim choked out my name.

"C-Claire?" I felt him fall limp against me as I felt a sudden surge of panic fill my chest. I tried my best to pull him against me as we fell to the stage floor together.

_But the world has given us a tough time to get here._

_And today won't be any different._


	12. So Won't Everything Else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a quick update, but I didn't want to leave y'all on that cliffhanger forever.
> 
> That and I needed something to fuel my fire for writing right now and this was all I could think about lol.
> 
> I personally don't think this is my best work for this story, but eh. I've been putting too high of expectations on myself lately and I think this is a good way of letting myself be more okay with my writing. As they say though, the artist is their own worst critic so I doubt it'll change any time soon. I know how I want to end this though, so I at least have that in my sights unlike I do with most of my writing lol.
> 
> Oh yeah. Did I ever say I barely plan any of these out. Yeah. That's a thing lol
> 
> ANYWAY! Enough of my 1 AM rambling and here's the update! I hope you enjoy it!

_"He lost a lot of blood."_

I held Jim's hand in a death grip as I screwed my eyes shut.

_"He needs surgery. The bullet is still in him."_

I brought Jim's hand up to my lips as I pressed a soft kiss to his pale knuckles as the subtle sound of his heart monitor kept me from losing my sanity.

_"He's gonna be okay, Claire." Toby rubbed my shoulders as we sat in the waiting room together. "He's been through worst."_

_"All because he's been through worst doesn't mean he can be as lucky the second time through."_

_"You've gotta have faith, Claire."_

I opened my eyes as I placed my cheek against the back of Jim's hand. My gaze landing on his sleeping features.

_"You've gotta have faith."_

"How am I supposed to have faith right now?" My voice cracked as I rubbed my cheek against his hand to soothe myself. "You were always the one to make sure I wasn't losing myself in moments like this." I laughed desperately at myself as I felt warm tears roll down from my eyes and down my right cheek specifically. the sound of his heart monitor beating in rhythm as I looked over his sleeping features.

_Ten hours since he was shot. Seven since his surgery. Six since Toby left to contact the record company about what happened. Five being alone here with my thoughts only watching him breathe and counting the seconds passing by._

I heard myself whimper as I turned my head to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles once more.

 _He doesn't deserve this. The bandages and scars. The pain and misery. He's been through enough hurt within his life. He deserves to be happy. To be_ safe. _But someone just had to decide that he didn't deserve to live at all. What was it that the police said? That the woman did it out of jealousy? Something about how if she couldn't have him, then no one could. I don't remember much. My worry for Jim blinding me more than anything as they tried to inform me of the woman they had in custody. But why would she do such a thing? To him of all people?_

_I guess that's the price to fame, at least. Your fans adore you and you're able to create and live the dreams that you had since you were a child, but it comes with pains and dangers that no one else will ever understand._

_I just guess this one is Jim's._

I sighed as I pressed my forehead against the back of his hand. I closed my eyes gently as I tried to focus on the sound of his heartbeat, but the image of his pale sleeping features was burned into my eyelids at this point.

"Here I thought that seeing you all those years ago was the day my heart broke for the first time." I chuckled darkly at myself as I opened my eyes to glance up at him. "But I don't think I knew what that even felt like until now." I gave his sleeping face a pained smile before looking away from him once more. "What am I even doing? Didn't I learn last time that you can't hear me?" I shook my head back and forth as I kept my forehead against the soft skin of his hand. "I remember that day like yesterday, you know?" I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. My hand keeping his in mine as my mind started to wonder. "I remember the pain in your eyes when you first woke up. The tears you shed when you realized what happened. The crack in your voice when you first spoke. The way you said my name, it caused my heart to nearly shatter." I tightened my grip on his hand as I continued. "I realized then how much you meant to me. That I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if I lost you that night. I would have been lost. So goddamn _lost_." My voice cracked on the single word, but I found myself speaking still. "But now, I know that I would be _nothing_ without you. I-. I can't even _think_ without you. I forgot how to even _breathe_ when I first left your side. I-." I shook my head as I squeezed my eyes shut tight. Tears falling down my face with ease as I tightened my grip on his hand once more. "I can't lose you, Jim. I _can't._ I just _can't_."

"You won't." I shot my eyes open as I heard his voice nearly breaking as he spoke for the first time since he fell to the floor. His laugh filling the room as he just gave me his signature lopsided smile. "What? You thought I would leave you so soon?"

"I must be dreaming. The doctors said you'll be out until tomorrow at the very least." I felt him take his hand out of mine before cupping it onto my right cheek.

"I thought I was." He gave another chuckle as his smile just grew a little more. "I thought I must have been with an angel by my side." I couldn't help but smile up at him as I placed my hand on top of his.

_This is real. He's awake. He's here._

I felt a sob make it's way out of me before I flung myself forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. A loud laugh shaking his chest under me as he just wrapped his arms around me in reply.

_He's here and he's not going anywhere._

_Not if I can help it._

"I was so worried-."

"I know."

"I thought you-."

"I know." His voice was soft as he just combed his fingers through my hair. "I know." He whispered at me gently as he spoke into the top of my hair. "Honestly though, I think I felt worse after my accident than I do right now." I raised my head from where I had it sitting on his chest to give him a confused look. "What?"

"You feel better _now_ after getting shot than you did after you got in a car accident?" He just gave me a small shrug as he glanced down to his left side where the bullet had punctured.

"At this point, yeah. But it might also be the painkillers in my system. Whatever they have me on right now is fucking _magical_." I just giggled at him as I placed my head back down on his chest. The heart monitor beating gently as silence took over us. This time with his finger raking through my hair as his voice whispered sweet nothings into my hair.

_He's okay._

I sighed gently as I closed my eyes for the first time in nearly thirty some odd hours.

_He's okay and so won't everything else._

* * *

_It broke my heart seeing Claire sitting there like that. Clutching onto my hand like some kind of lifeline as she cried heavily into the back of my hand. Warm tears rolling down her cheeks and onto my cold skin being the feeling that awake me in the first place._

_I did feel pain where the bullet had punctured into my skin, but all the pain I first felt was nothing in comparison to the sight of_ that _._

I continued to toy with her hair as I let out of soft sigh into her hair as I felt her nuzzle into my chest. I just smiled at her unconscious action as I just wrapped her up in my arms.

_This was a blessing, in a way. If you can even call it that._

I leaned my head back into my hospital bed's pillow as Claire's hair tickled against the bottom of my chin.

 _It made me realize something._ _When I fell, she was all I could think about. The pain in her eyes haunting my dreams when I was under. I couldn't take the way she was looking at me, even if I knew it wasn't my fault. Seeing just how_ hurt _she was made my heart shatter like glass on concrete. It made me realize just then how much of an impact that she had on my life. How much I truly cared for her. How much I truly_ love _her. It led me to made a promise within that moment that she would never look at me like that again._

_Also to showcase how much I truly want to be with her. How much I want the rest of my life to be with hers. Even if it's just a few decades, years, months, or even mere minutes, I don't care. I want-._

_No. I_ need _Claire in my life. There's no exception. Even if we were still just friends, I would feel the same way._

_Which only led me to my next goal in life._

I tilted up my chin to look down at Claire's sleeping figure as I rubbed shapeless figured into her back.

_I want to be able to wake up to this every morning. I want to spend every moment I've got with her. Between tour and gigs and movie debuts and filmings, I want to know that no matter what, she'll be there to go home to. Even if I already know that for certain, I kind of want a definite showcasing of it._

_And what I have in mind is definite indeed._

I leaned my head up completely and planted a kiss on her head before laying my head back down. A sudden wave of drowsiness taking over me.

 _But I'll worry about that later. There's so much more we've got to do before I can even_ think _about that right now._

_Also, her dad might kill me if I ask him. He'll say something along the lines of "Too soon" and "You promised me" before cutting my throat or some shit._

I closed my eyes as a content smile took over my face.

_But I wouldn't mind the dangers of it all if it meant hearing her say two simple words._

_I do._

* * *

"Jim, my dude, my brother, I love you man." I gave Toby and Douxie a nervous smile as Toby spoke to me in a gentle yet condescending voice. "But I think the hospital trip in England made you lose your sense of control because _marriage_? Already? You've only dated for what? Six months?"

"Six months, two weeks, and four days." Douxie gave me an amused look as I scratched the back of my neck nervously. "But yeah. Six months."

"Exactly. Are you sure you want this? Are you sure this isn't the near-death experience talking? It was only a week ago, dude. You might still be on edge from it or something."

"Maybe?" I gave a small shrug before dropping my arms to my side before slipping my hands into my jean's pockets. "But I've loved Claire for years and it's not like I'm going to ask her tomorrow or something. I'm just-. I don't know." I looked around the small recording room in Douxie's house as I leaned against the wall with another shrug. "The way she looked at me when I fell. The pain in her voice as she called my name. It made me realize that there's so much of me that I haven't given her yet. That there's so much I want to experience with her. You know?" I looked up toward my two dearest friends as they both gave me gentle stares. "She's already my everything. She's been my inspiration for years."

"So the natural next thought is to make it known, eh?" I gave Douxie a small smile as I just simply nodded my head in reply. "Makes sense to me then." Toby just turned his head toward the punk as if he was insane.

"You're crazy."

"Hey, all because you and Darci decided that marriage isn't your thing at this point in time don't mean that it's not for Claire and Jim." I smiled at Douxie's seeming approval as he just reached out and placed a hand onto my left shoulder. "Just whatever you do, make sure it's something you truly want for the both of you. Wait a few months and get a feel for how she's doing at this point in time. Enjoy what you two got for right now and see if you feel the same."

"Yeah. I was planning on that already."

"Then all should be fine then." He gave me a small smirk before drawing his arm back before crossing both of them across his chest. "Luckily for you, I remember Claire telling me a lot in high school that she always wanted to get married someday anyway. But even if she didn't, I don't doubt that she would say yes since it's you asking her."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! She's done worse just cause you asked!"

"You might be right on that, but this is something drastically different than asking her to take a sporadic overnight trip to Los Angles when we were seventeen."

"Wait," We both turned our attention toward Toby who was now looking between us with a curious look on his face. "Why not just ask her to move in for right now? Like, the two of you don't get to see each other unless you're out together or at each other's houses anyway. It'll make it a lot less complicated for the both of you and it'll give her a hint on what direction you're going in."

"That's actually a great idea, Tobes." I gave him a wide smile as I looked over toward Douxie once more. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a beautiful idea, actually." Douxie had a smirk appear on his face before draping an arm over Toby's shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Who knew Toby had some brains up in there." Douxie ruffled the redhead's hair as the younger man just gave him a pissed look in reply.

"I hate you sometimes."

"Love ya too, mate!" I smiled at my two friends as they turned their attention back at our task at hand to help Douxie with some music stuff on his new song.

_Ask her to move in with me. Yeah. That makes sense._

I pushed myself away from the wall as I head toward Douxie's acoustic guitar that on the other side of the room.

_And I know exactly how I'll ask her too._


	13. Twenty-Four Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a really quick update because I felt bad that I wasn't writing one for this even though I already was for a different story because FUCK my brain is ADHD prone.
> 
> Also, I wrote this while listening to 24 hours by Shawn Mendes and I hope you all enjoy okay bye~!
> 
> P.S Honestly. This is basically a song fic update but fuck it lol

_J: Let me know when you're out of your meeting. I want to talk about something that's been nagging at me. Meet me at my place? It's nothing to worry about, just so you know._

"'Cause all it'd take is twenty-four hours. Sign the check and the place is ours. It's a little soon but I wanna come home to you." I sang softly to myself as I played the same few notes on my keyboard over and over again. I goofy smile taking over my face as I imagined Claire's reaction to the short melody.

_Only a little bit until then anyway. Way less than twenty-four hours._

I chuckled at myself before continuing with the song. "All it'd take is twenty-four hours. We could dance, you could throw the flowers. It's a little soon but I wanna come home to you." I brought up my other hand to continue a small bridge to see if I could add to it. I stopped myself as I heard the familiar ding of my phone. I picked it up from where it was sitting on the music sheet stand and saw that Claire had texted me.

_C: Got out of my boring meeting. On my way over._

I smiled at the message as I rose from my seat to set up the piano sitting downstairs.

_Time to throw caution to the wind, Lake._

* * *

"What do you think he wants to take to you about?" I gave Darci a small shrug as we walked toward where we had parked together.

"Honestly, I have no clue. I know it's nothing bad though. He's been in too good of a mood for a guy that just got out of a hospital a month ago." Darci just laughed a little at me as she nudged me with her elbow.

"Do you think he might have some plans then? Something _serious_." I rolled my eyes at my friend before nudging her back.

"You gossip with Mary too much."

"Hey! You never know. Near-death experiences like that can cause someone to start thinking more about stuff like that. I'm a lot more sensical than Mary in the fact that I don't think the boy will kneel before you anytime soon, but I don't doubt that he might be thinking of something else."

"What do you think it's about then?"

"Moving in together." I just smiled at the idea as Darci just laughed at my reaction. "Seems you're _more_ than just alright with the idea."

"As you said, near-death experiences can cause someone to think. It's not like we don't spend almost every hour we have with one another. It would defiantly make it a lot easier with this new film we got me signed up for today."

"So you wouldn't be opposed to it?" She gave me a curious look as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her brown purse now hanging off her elbow as it tapped against her matching pants suit.

"Why would I be? Jim and I have been nearly living together even _before_ we started dating. I already have a room filled with some of my stuff at his place and he has one at mine. All we would need to figure out is who's place we would be selling and stuff like that. We haven't been ones to overthink our relationship together anyway. We've always been just Claire and Jim, ya know?" I gave a small shrug as I slipped my hand into my jacket to grab out my keys. "Even if we did, everything just feels right with us right now. Why not try and see?"

"What was it that you told me when I moved in with Toby after we graduated? Only fools go rushing in?" I giggled at her as she nudged me with her elbow once more.

"To quote you in reply, then I'm one hell of a fool." Darci just smiled at me as we reached my car that carpooled in.

"Let's get me home then so you can have your moment with your boyfriend." I smiled at her words as I unlocked the doors and hopped in without a second thought.

* * *

I paced a little by my piano in my living room as I kept tapping the melody I wrote on the sides of my thighs.

_Maybe this is way too soon instead of just a little? Maybe she'll say no?_

I shook my head a little as I tried to get rid of the negative thoughts within my head.

_Quit overthinking, jackass._

_For once one that wrote about how he doesn't overthink when it comes to you and Claire, you're not sticking with your words at the moment. You need to get your shit together._

I heard the front door opening as I felt my anxiety peak once more.

_Just a little bit of Deja Vu, huh?_

I felt myself smile as I saw Claire enter the doorway and shrug off her purple and black blazer she was wearing.

"Sorry that I'm a little late. Darci and I drove to the meeting together so I had to drop her off before I got here." She draped her jacket over the couch before making her way toward me. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not at all." I smiled even more as I noted the happy look on the actress's face. "I'm guessing you were able to make a deal with that new movie you were asked to audition for?"

"Yup! I meet my co-actress for the film the day after tomorrow so we could have a read through together."

"That's amazing!" She smiled up toward me as I took her hands into mine. "It's the one about the teenage witch, right? Basically like a Sabrina spin-off but with trolls, right?" I chuckled a little before continuing. "You and these witch roles. I'll get confused at some point."

"I'm surprised you haven't yet, honestly." We shared a small laugh as I felt her toy softly with my hands. "But enough about me." She dropped her hands from mine before giving me a nearly blinding smile. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah. I have a song I want you to hear first though." I moved to sit down on the piano bench beside me before she took the small space beside me.

"Are you going to tell me anything about it first?" I gave her a nervous smile before lifting the piano key cover.

"It's nothing bad if you're worried."

"I would have been worried if you just randomly called me." My anxiety eased a little as I heard her giggle beside me. "Whisp me away, Piano Man." I laughed a little as I started playing the main intro of the song.

"All it'd take is twenty-four hours. Sign the check and the place is ours. It's a little soon but I wanna come home to you." I gave her a hesitant glance to see she was just smiling toward me. I felt a blush take over my face as I brought my eyes back to the piano keys. "I don't know how this will go. I promise that I'll love you so. I'll bet it all on me and you. I'll bet it all, you're _bulletproof_." I shot Claire a smirk at the end of that line as she just glared at me in return. I gave her a small chuckle in return before bringing my attention back to the music. "Let's throw away our backup plans, and people might not understand. Who cares about if they approve? I'd face them all to be with you." I smiled as I brought my eyes back toward her. "All it'd take is twenty-four hours. Sign the check and the place is ours. It's a little soon but I wanna come home to you." I felt my voice softened as I saw tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. I could tell though that she was smiling up toward me as if I was giving her the world within that moment. "All it'd take is twenty-four hours. We could dance, you could throw the flowers. It's a little soon but I wanna come home to you." I found my hands leaving the piano as I had a sudden urge to wrap the slightly younger girl into my arms. She didn't seem to mind though as she wrapped her arms around my neck without a second thought when my hands left the piano keys.

_Seems she knows what you were asking of her, huh?_

I smiled at the thought as I tightened my arms around her.

"I guess you got the idea, huh?" I felt her head nod against my shoulder as a small chuckle came out of me.

"You always have to have some kind of beautiful _fucking song_ that gets me all _fucked up_ and emotional, don't you?" I couldn't help but laugh wholeheartedly as she pulled back for a moment to wipe a tear away from underneath her right eye. "This is not a laughing matter, Lake. You've pulled this shit on me since my sixteen birthday." I just smiled at her as my hands found their way to her sides.

"That wasn't even the whole song, Claire."

"I'll hear you singing it around the house at some point." I gave her a wide-eyed look as she just smiled at me. "What? Did you think I was going to say no or something?"

"Honestly? Yeah. I did." She just shook her head at me a little as her hands moved to cup both sides of my face.

"It might take a little longer than twenty-four hours, but we already have a key to each other's houses and like a fourth of our stuff at each other's places too. It makes sense for this to be the next step." I smiled at her as her thumbs rubbed gently on my cheeks. "Even then, I didn't give a single shit if anyone else thinks it's too soon for us. We never care for what others thought of us anyway."

"I knew I loved you for a reason." She let out a hearty felt laugh before bringing her forehead against mine.

"I love you too, Jim." I smiled at her words before our lips met. My heart fluttering within my chest for nearly the millionth time since we started dating.

_Yeah, everything will take a few more than twenty-four hours like I want it to be._

I reached up and cupped Claire's right cheek as we deepened our kiss. Her hands going into my hair as we pulled each other closer.

_But nothing could ruin a moment like this for me._

_Absolutely nothing._

* * *

I smiled as I combed my fingers through Claire's hair. Her head was laid upon my chest as I felt her breath brushing gently against my bare chest. I knew it was way too late for me to be laying here with sleep illuding me so easily, but I didn't mind it as I had such a beautiful sight sleeping on top of my chest.

_I promise I mean every word._

I felt my smile widening as I leaned my head up to place a small kiss on the top of her head.

_I'll paint the world that you deserve. Every color you'd imagine._

I laid my head back down as I closed my eyes gently. My arms now dropping from where they were so that they were tightly holding the sleeping woman against me. Sleep taking me blissfully as the last line I wrote in the stanza ringing through my mind.

_And_ _I can't wait for it happen._


End file.
